Multilateral – annual report 2023

Details

Published: September 4, 2024

Overall Concept

The multilateral programmes of IRZ are not based on the reform status of the participating countries, but rather pursue the goal of bringing legal practitioners from various legal professional fields into an exchange with colleagues from other countries on specialist and reform topics. In this way, the participants can not only expand their own skills and knowledge, but in the best case also receive new impulses for possible areas of reform in their domestic legal system or the application practice of the legal framework.

The work shadowing programmes, which IRZ launched shortly after it was founded, provide a special insight into legal and judicial practice in Germany. In these programmes, the interns can gain a direct impression of how court hearings actually take place, how the parties involved in the proceedings communicate with each other and how recent developments (such as digitalization and artificial intelligence) are dealt with in Germany.

Last but not least, all formats pursue the goal of establishing long-term transnational networks, both within the respective target groups and often beyond the professional groups. This aspect is also often emphasized as particularly valuable by the German participants, as the host institutions and law firms in Germany also gain concrete contact persons in numerous countries through the guest students. For several years, IRZ has also been offering some programmes in a modified form in the transfer languages English and French in order to reach legal practitioners without any knowledge of German.

Traditional multilateral programmes Internship programme for notaries

From 25 June to 11 July 2023, IRZ and the German Federal Chamber of Notaries organised the 20th year of the notary internship programme, which was launched in 2000. Five notaries and six notary assessors from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Poland, Romania, the Czech Republic, Ukraine and Hungary took part in the German-language event.

A one-week introductory seminar focused on the role of the notary in non contentious administration of justice in Germany, on how candidates are appointed notaries and on issues relating to professional representation at national and international level. Furthermore, topics such as real estate law, loan secured by mortgage, preventing money laundering, family

and inheritance law, commercial and corporate law and private international law in notarial practice were discussed, as well as the advantages and challenges of the digitalization of the notary's office. In addition to lectures and discussions, the participants visited the notary's office of Dr Rabl and Dr Gassen in Bonn, where issues such as office organization were discussed.

Following this introductory week, the guests completed a one-week internship in a German notary‘s office. There, they had the opportunity to get to know their German colleagues‘ day-to-day work and to engage in an intensive professional exchange. Finally, the interns returned to Bonn for a one-day evaluation seminar. For the guests, the practical phase in particular was a very valuable professional experience and also highly enriching on a personal level.

Internship programme for lawyers

Between 27 August and 28 September 2023, IRZ, together with the German Federal Bar and the German Bar Association, conducted the multilateral German-language internship programme for lawyers. This 29th year consisted of twelve lawyers from eleven different countries.

For the first time, the introductory week of the internship programme took place in Berlin in the reporting year, for which the German Federal Bar and the German Bar Association made their premises available. Representatives of the German Federal Bar and the DAV German Bar Association as well as practising lawyers gave the interns an insight into, among other things, the legal professional law, the system of self-regulation of lawyers, contract and corporate law, international arbitration, family law, the complaints procedure before the European Court of Human Rights and the impact of judgments on national legal systems. A visit to the Berlin Regional Court provided an initial insight into the practice of the German judiciary, during which the role of the judiciary was presented and information was provided on the process of a mediation procedure.

The introductory week was followed by a three-week practical phase in a law firm. There, the participants had the opportunity to get to know the work of the German legal profession. Not least due to the internship period of several weeks, the interns were very intensively involved in the work of the respective law firm, were able to familiarize themselves in depth with proceedings, took part in client meetings and court hearings and were in lively professional exchange with their German colleagues. The supervising law firms also rated the interns' stay as beneficial, and in some cases future cooperation is planned.

During the one-day evaluation seminar in Bonn, the participants gave very positive feedback. In particular, they found the international exchange with the German lawyers and their fellow interns very helpful for their own work and intend to maintain these contacts in the future

Multilateral internship programme for German-speaking administrative judges

Together with the Association of German Administrative Judges and the Federal State Justice Administrations, IRZ has been offering a biennial internship programme for administrative judges with a good command of German since 2013.

After the programme had to be cancelled in 2021 due to the pandemic, it was held in the reporting year from 24 October to 7 November. Nine administrative judges from Bulgaria, Georgia, Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary took part.

In a three-day introductory seminar in Bonn, the participants were given an initial overview of German administrative law, administrative jurisdiction, the administrative process, court organization, judges' law and professional associations. The seminar concluded with a visit to the Higher Administrative Court in Koblenz.

Following the introductory seminar, the participants traveled to their respective internship locations for a one-week practical phase. The local specialist supervisors, some of whom also hosted the interns, had put together a varied specialist programme for their guests – partly in cooperation with the Federal State Justice Administration. This gave the interns the opportunity to get to know how the courts work, to take part in court hearings, discussions and meetings and to engage in intensive discussions with their German colleagues on legal issues.

In the final evaluation seminar in Bonn, the interns expressed that the insight into the German judiciary and the comparative legal exchange with the German colleagues as well as the foreign colleagues provided important insights and gave them impetus for their professional future.

Internship programme for English-speaking civil and commercial judges

From 21 November to 5 December 2023, IRZ, together with the German Association of Judges and the Federal State Judicial Administrations, ran the internship programme for English-speaking civil and commercial judges. The participants of the 6th year of this programme consisted of a total of eleven judges from Albania, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, North Macedonia and Ukraine.

During a three-day introductory seminar in Bonn, the participants were given an overview of German civil law, civil procedural law, internal court mediation, the relationship between national jurisdiction and the European Court of Justice, as well as the law governing judges and the legal education and further training of judges.

In small groups of three people each, the participants were then able to take part in hearings and meetings at various courts for a week. The German colleagues supervising them were available to the interns for technical discussions on site, resulting in a lively exchange that was perceived as enriching by both the trainees and their German colleagues. Following the practical phase, the final evaluation seminar took place in Bonn, at which the participants were very positive about the experience they had gained and the new contacts they had made, and considered both to be valuable for their future professional activities in their home country.

Focus on the “Middle East training programme”

Against the backdrop of the sustainable promotion of international legal cooperation with IRZ partner states and, in particular, the support of young legal professionals from the Middle East, IRZ designed a series of seminars in 2016 specifically for Arabic-speaking refugee lawyers, which it has held annually ever since. The circle of participants has been successively expanded. The background and aim of the training programme is to contribute to the social and professional integration of the target group in Germany.

Two-day online seminar series on the topic of “Citizenship law and naturalization procedures”

As topics relevant to migration law such as citizenship, residence and asylum law as well as general administrative and administrative procedural law are particularly important for lawyers from the Middle East, IRZ 2023 designed a series of seminars specifically on these legal fields.

The first part took place in April 2023 on the topic of “Administrative and administrative procedural law”. Among other things, it dealt with the forms of administrative action, in particular the administrative act and its notification, the differentiation between the facts and legal consequences of a norm, binding decisions and discretionary decisions, as well as actions for rescission and actions to enforce obligations (in particular in the form of actions for failure to act). The second part of the seminar series was held by IRZ in September on the subject of citizenship law and naturalization procedures. Participants learned about citizenship law, discretionary naturalization and eligibility for naturalization, the requirements for naturalization and the planned naturalization reform, which is due to come into force in 2024.

Online seminar “Introduction to the protection of human rights”

On June 9, 2023, the online seminar “Introduction to human rights proection” took place, in which participants learned about the international human rights protection system and its implementation in Europe and Germany. Various mechanisms for monitoring compliance with international human rights obligations were also discussed. Seminars such as these are also intended to help (potential) future decision-makers – in the event of a return to their home countries – to use the knowledge they have acquired to establish the rule of law.

Five-day course for lawyers from the Middle East in Berlin

From July 31 to August 4, 2023, IRZ welcomed 16 lawyers from the Middle East to Berlin. During the five-day in-person event, new knowledge was imparted in the areas of employment law, residence and asylum law as well as the basic principles of a functioning constitutional state and soft skills for lawyers. The group also visited the German Bundestag and had an expert discussion with a speaker from a member of parliament‘s office.

In addition to the specialist lectures, this year there was a particular focus on professional orientation. IRZ organized an expert discussion with the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees and the Federal Ministry of Justice on possible career opportunities for the group. In addition, the participants underwent job application training and were able to obtain individual feedback on their CVs.

Work shadowing for lawyers from the Middle East region

In 2023, eight selected participants were also able to take advantage of the opportunity to work shadow in a law firm, a legal department of a company or a public authority, such as the Federal Ministry of Justice.

Depending on their area of interest, the interns completed their internship in the specialist areas of asylum, employment, family and commercial law.

All events were funded by the institutional grant from the Federal Ministry of Justice.