Kosovo

Closing event of the EU project EUKOJUST

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Published: July 4, 2024
Panel discussion (from right to left): Dragomir Yordanov (Project Expert), Alban Krasniqi (Project Expert), Enver Fejzullahu (Director of the Kosovo Judicial Academy); Jörn Rohde, (Ambassador of Germany), Blerim Sallahu (Deputy Minister of Justice); Mentor Borovci (Director of the Legal Office of the Prime Ministry), Kristian Turkajl (Project Expert), Idlir Peci (Project Expert) and Carin Lobbezoo (Ambassador of the Netherlands).
Panel discussion (from right to left): Dragomir Yordanov (Project Expert), Alban Krasniqi (Project Expert), Enver Fejzullahu (Director of the Kosovo Judicial Academy); Jörn Rohde, (Ambassador of Germany), Blerim Sallahu (Deputy Minister of Justice); Mentor Borovci (Director of the Legal Office of the Prime Ministry), Kristian Turkajl (Project Expert), Idlir Peci (Project Expert) and Carin Lobbezoo (Ambassador of the Netherlands).
Kosovo

After a duration of more than 45 months, the closing event of the EU project EUKOJUST took place in Pristina on June 19, 2024. The event was attended by high-ranking representatives of the Kosovan judiciary.

The large-scale project financed by the European Commission, which was led by IRZ and implemented in cooperation with the Dutch partner CILC and the Croatian Ministry of Justice, created a solid basis for further judicial reforms in Kosovo with numerous activities after around four years.

The aim of the project was to provide targeted support to the Kosovan judiciary in the implementation of comprehensive judicial reform, with a focus on increasing the efficiency and transparency of the judicial system and developing and harmonizing the legal framework in Kosovo.

The project partners include the Kosovo Ministry of Justice, the Kosovo Prosecutorial Council, the Kosovo Judicial Council, the Kosovo Judicial Academy, judges, prosecutors, court and prosecution staff, legal professionals and civil society organizations in the justice sector.

In his opening speech, EU Ambassador Tomas Szyong thanked the project partners for their outstanding cooperation – the basis for the results achieved in the project. Kosovo's Minister of Justice Albulena Haxhiu also emphasized that EUKOJUST had made a significant contribution to the implementation of the reforms envisaged in the national justice strategy during the project. She emphasized the significant support in restructuring the Ministry of Justice in order to create an institutional basis for the successful implementation of the ongoing reforms.

In his speech, the President of IRZ, Parliamentary State Secretary Benjamin Strasser, emphasized the importance of the joint inter-institutional commitment to judicial reform and thanked all those involved for their commitment under the initially difficult and extraordinary conditions at the beginning of the pandemic.

The project manager of IRZ, Teresa Thalhammer, looked back on the 45-month project duration and emphasized that a particularly trusting and reliable cooperation from the very beginning was the basis for the constructive cooperation and the achievement of the goals set in the project. The reform process was in full swing and she hoped that the project partners would be equipped with the necessary tools, methods and specialist knowledge to continue along this path thanks to the support provided.

In two thematic panel discussions, the long-term experts of the project, together with representatives of the competent judicial authorities and the Dutch, Croatian and German ambassadors, reflected on the challenges and milestones of the digitalization of the judiciary and legislation.

The Kosovan partners were very satisfied with the results achieved and the support provided by the dedicated national and international project team and emphasized the need to extend the project.

EU Ambassador Tomas Szyong during his opening speech.
Panel discussion (from right to left): Cristian Nicoara (Project Expert), Ardian Hajdaraj (Chairman of the Prosecutorial Council) Danijela Barisic (Ambassador of Croatia), Albulena Haxhiu, (Minister of Justice), Albert Zogaj (Chairman of the Judicial Council), Arben Isufi (Project Expert), Volkmar Theobald (Team Leader).
IRZ President, Parliamentary State Secretary Benjamin Strasser during his speech.

Communication of the courts, use of social media

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Published: June 24, 2024
On the podium (from left to right): Katrin Latki-Baier, PR and Communications Consultant, Brigitte Koppenhöfer, Former Presiding Judge at Düsseldorf Regional Court, Lore Binder, Project Manager, IRZ, Mustaf Tahiri, President of Ferizaj Local Court.
On the podium (from left to right): Katrin Latki-Baier, PR and Communications Consultant, Brigitte Koppenhöfer, Former Presiding Judge at Düsseldorf Regional Court, Lore Binder, Project Manager, IRZ, Mustaf Tahiri, President of Ferizaj Local Court.
Kosovo

The internal and external communication of the courts and the use of social media play an important role in the external impact of the judiciary and so these topics were the focus of a workshop in June 2024 in Pristina, organised by IRZ in cooperation with the Kosovo Judicial Council (KJC).

IRZ has been supporting Kosovar courts on communication issues for several years. At this event, judges took part for the first time alongside the press spokespersons of the courts.

The aim of this workshop, led by Brigitte Koppenhöfer, former presiding judge at Düsseldorf Regional Court, and Katrin Latki-Baier, PR and communications consultant, was to promote professional press and public relations work in the courts in order to strengthen transparency and the public's trust in the judiciary.

Communication of the courts with the media

In addition to the focus on "social media", the topic of "communication between judicial authorities and the media" received special attention. This aspect was of great importance to the judiciary, as many judges are unsure how to deal with media enquiries. In principle, they must be very careful when making public statements so as not to jeopardise the independence and neutrality of the judiciary. At the same time, they are faced with the challenge of presenting complex legal issues in a way that is understandable to laypeople.

The experts also emphasised the importance of cooperation between judges and press offices as well as clear coordination processes in order to send well thought-out messages. They emphasised the strengthening of internal communication towards effective cooperation between the judiciary and press officers as a decisive factor for success.

Use of social media by judicial authorities

The speakers emphasised the growing importance of social media platforms to communicate directly and promptly with the public. They presented various strategies and best practices on how courts can use social media to increase their reach, create transparency and strengthen the trust of the public. They highlighted both the opportunities and the challenges.

The event offered participants the opportunity to engage in dialogue, share experiences and build communication structures using practical case studies.

Consultations on combating money laundering in cooperation with the Kosovo Prime Minister's Office

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Published: May 21, 2024
Rundtischgespräch zu den Herausforderungen der Geldwäschebekämpfung in Kosovo am 14. Juni 2023 in Pristina.
Rundtischgespräch zu den Herausforderungen der Geldwäschebekämpfung in Kosovo am 14. Juni 2023 in Pristina.
Kosovo

In cooperation with the Office of the Prime Minister of Kosovo, IRZ was involved in an advisory project on combating money laundering in Kosovo from November 2022 to the end of 2023. The Federal Foreign Office financed the project.

The consultations focused on a comprehensive analysis of the legal and institutional framework for combating money laundering in Kosovo, with a particular focus on the general conditions for effectively combating money laundering as well as the legal framework of criminal money laundering law and asset recovery. Based on this analysis, a report with concrete and practical recommendations for action was submitted to the Kosovo Prime Minister's Office in November 2023.

The report was written by a team of three experts: Dr Stefan Trunk, Senior Public Prosecutor at the Duisburg Public Prosecutor's Office and Chairman of the Examination Commission at the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court, Prof Dr Mohamad El-Ghazi, Professor of German and European Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure Law and Commercial Criminal Law at the University of Trier and Director of the Trier Institute for Money Laundering and Corruption Criminal Law (TrIGeko), and Mr Thomas Seidel, former police officer in the Federal Criminal Police Office and the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), Senior Compliance Officer in universal banks, lecturer in anti-money laundering and founder of the non-profit organisation antifinancialcrime.org gGmbH.

In addition to the document-based assessment of the legal framework, the team of experts travelled to Pristina three times within a year to hold in-depth expert discussions with representatives of a total of fifteen Kosovan and international institutions. In addition to a meeting with Prime Minister Albin Kurti in March 2023, working visits were made to the Special Prosecutor's Office, the General Prosecutor's Office, the Court of Appeal, the FIU, the police, the Central Bank and the customs authority, among others. In addition, two cross-institutional roundtables were organised to discuss challenges and discrepancies in the interpretation and application of the law in practice.

Another integral part of the project included the organisation of training events in the area of money laundering investigations related to crypto-assets. In this context, a 15-member delegation – mainly representatives from Kosovan public prosecutors' offices, police authorities, the FIU and the central bank – travelled to Germany in December 2023 and hold working discussions with German institutions, including the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) in Frankfurt, the Central Office for Financial Transaction Investigations – Financial Intelligence Unit in Cologne, the Central and Contact Point Cybercrime North Rhine-Westphalia (ZAC) of the Public Prosecutor General's Office in Cologne, the Central Office for Combating Cybercrime (ZIT) of the Public Prosecutor General's Office in Frankfurt and the Federal Criminal Police Office in Wiesbaden.

Despite the high priority that the current Kosovan government attaches to combating money laundering and corruption, the EU Commission's latest progress report from November 2023 once again denounces the urgent need to reform the Kosovan law on combating money laundering and terrorist financing. The analyses of the team of experts and the recommendations for action derived from them can make an important contribution to aligning Kosovan legislation with the EU acquis and international standards, while at the same time strengthening the efficiency of investigative structures and promoting more effective application of the law by Kosovan law enforcement and judicial authorities.

Further information on the project can be found in the March 2024 issue of the Journal on Legal and Economic Development in the Countries of Central and Eastern Europe (WiRO).