The delegation visits the Lower Saxony Ministry of Justice; front centre: Justice Minister Dr. Kathrin Wahlmann, behind her to the right: State Secretary Dr. Thomas Smollich. Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia
In late August 2023, the IRZ invited three delegations from Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova and Georgia to Lower Saxony to exchange experiences on issues of ensuring the independence of the judiciary. This event was prepared together with the Lower Saxony Ministry of Justice.
Justice Minister Dr. Kathrin Wahlmann welcomed the delegations. The expert talks were led by the State Secretary in the Lower Saxony Ministry of Justice, Dr. Thomas Smollich, and the Director of the IRZ, Dr. Stefan Hülshörster.
The President of the Lower Saxony State Court and President of the State Labour Court, the Chairman of the Chief Judges' Council, the Presidents of the Social Court and the Hanover District Court and the President of the Braunschweig Higher Regional Court were also involved in the talks, along with other employees from the Ministry of Justice.
From Ukraine, the Deputy Minister of Justice, Banchuk was joined by representatives from the Supreme Court, the High Judicial Qualification Commission and the High Council of Justice; on the Moldovan side, in addition to the Deputy Chair of the Parliament's Legal Affairs Committee, the interim President of the Supreme Judicial Council and the President of the Supreme Council of the Public Prosecutor's Office took part and a representative of the Ministry of Justice and, from Georgia, a judge of the Supreme Court was joined by the President of the Georgian Bar Association and the Director of the National School of Judges.
The composition of the delegation ensured an intensive exchange of ideas and experiences, during which the guests also presented the current status of their reforms, particularly regarding their efforts to prepare for accession to the EU.
The visit was rounded off by expert talks with the co-Chair of the German Association of Judges and with the Parliamentary State Secretary, Benjamin Strasser, MP in the Federal Ministry of Justice in Berlin.
The delegation at an expert talk with members of the Committee on Legal Affairs at the German Bundestag. Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova
The IRZ conducted a study trip in North Rhine-Westphalia and Berlin on the subject of combating corruption and money laundering for a delegation from the Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova and Georgia. The Committee on Legal Affairs of the German Bundestag also received the guests as part of the diverse programme.
In 2022, the European Union granted Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova EU candidate status and Georgia was also offered the prospect of EU accession. The German Bundestag therefore provided the IRZ with additional funds to conduct cooperation with these three partner countries As the recommendations of the EU Commission for the necessary legal reforms in all three states emphasised in particular the fight against corruption and organised crime, the IRZ implemented a study trip with the relevant specialist focus in cooperation with the Ministry of Justice of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia.
The participants were representatives from various governmental and non-governmental institutions from Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia that are responsible for preventing and prosecuting cases of corruption.
The State Justice Minister Dr. Benjamin Limbach, received the delegation In North Rhine-Westphalia, This was followed by appointments at the State Office of Criminal Investigations and the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Düsseldorf. The guests also visited the main departments of the Public Prosecutor's Offices in Wuppertal and Bochum, and engaged in expert talks to explore in-depth issues around the confiscation of assets and organised crime. At a meeting with the European Public Prosecutor's Office, they also discussed the subject of “Investigations into cases of fraud and tax evasion affecting the European budget of the European Union”.
The delegation then travelled to Berlin, where it was received by the Committee on Legal Affairs of the German Bundestag. Dr. Günter Krings, MdB, chaired the discussion, in which the participants explained the progress made to date and the major challenges in the fight against corruption in Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova and Georgia. The study trip was rounded off with expert talks at the Federal Ministry of Justice and the Federal Ministry of the Interior and Homeland. The focus here was on “Measures to prevent corruption in the federal administration”.
A similar study trip on the theme of “Independence of the judiciary” to Lower Saxony and Berlin is planned for August 2023 with participants from Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova and Georgia to further promote exchanges between the three partner states as part of the EU accession process.
The granting of the EU accession candidate country status on 23 June 2022 has provided impetus to the reform efforts of the pro-European government. The IRZ is supporting the Republic of Moldova with European integration.
The IRZ has previously been involved in major reforms in the country, such as the drafting of an Administrative Code, which includes an Administrative Procedure Act and an Administrative Process Act and was adopted in 2018. The IRZ resumed cooperation with the Republic of Moldova in November 2022. Following the consultations on the Administrative Code, experts prepared an expert opinion on this topic in Q1 2023. Further training for judges and civil servants on the implementation of the Administrative Code is planned.
In December 2022, a working visit was held in Berlin for members of the Parliament's Committee on Legal Affairs on the implementation of Chapters 23 and 24 of the Acquis Communautaire. A similar working visit is also planned for a delegation from the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Moldova at the end of May 2023.
In addition, the IRZ has initiated consultations on the further reform of the Moldovan penitentiary system, which will also build on the earlier cooperation. The focus is on aspects of an individual rehabilitation plan and resocialisation. Further consultations are planned on reforming enforcement law, strengthening state-guaranteed mediation, drafting legislation in the field of arbitration, the notarial system and much more.
All these measures are aimed at aligning national law with European Union law and are guided by the EU Commission's opinion on the Republic of Moldova's application for membership of the European Union last summer. In addition to Moldova, Ukraine was also granted EU candidate status and Georgia was granted the prospect of EU accession.
The German Bundestag has provided additional funding to the IRZ to support the EU legal harmonisation in the three states. The IRZ will use this funding in particular for trilateral measures: a working visit for a delegation from the Republic of Moldova, Ukraine and Georgia on the topic of combating corruption and money laundering is planned in cooperation with the Ministry of Justice of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia in June. The IRZ is organising another trilateral working visit in late summer on the independence of the judiciary in Lower Saxony (also in cooperation with the Ministry of Justice) and Berlin, and a parliamentary conference at the German Bundestag with a content focus on parliamentary law, participation in civil society in parliamentary work, and preventing and combating corruption.
In view of the numerous attempts to destabilise the Republic of Moldova, the IRZ is particularly concerned to support the country in its reforms of the rule of law.
