Within the framework of the cooperation agreement of the Academy of Justice with the Magistrate School of France – ENM, from 29 January up to 16 February 2018, two candidates from this school conducted the internship training program in Kosovo.
The purpose of this program was to inform the candidates for judges and prosecutors of France, with the judicial system in Kosovo, particularly in prosecuting, investigating and adjudicating criminal offenses, as well as enforcing sentences, and civil court cases with a focus on family affairs, contracts and liabilities, understanding of international dimension of justice and understanding of foreign training systems of judges.
The Academy of Justice prepared the agenda of the internship program which contains practical training conducted in courts and prosecution offices in support of judges/prosecutors in the capacity of mentors, and were organized meetings at other national and international institutions in Kosovo. The implementation of this program commenced with a meeting at the Academy of justice, where the candidates were notified in general about the function of the judicial and prosecutorial system in Kosovo, as well as functions, responsibilities and programs developed by the Academy.
According to the agenda, ENM candidates continued the training in the Basic Court and Basic Prosecution of Prishtina, hosted by a prosecutor and two judge’s one of civil field and one of criminal field. Candidates had the opportunity to follow various court hearings regarding investigation proceeding, and gained broad knowledge on the judicial system, starting from the first actions taken by the judge of the case, initial hearing, second hearing and the main trail, plea bargaining agreement in the preliminary procedure, handling of detention cases, covert measures in preliminary procedure and execution of punishments in Kosovo.
Also, during this program the candidates followed preparatory sessions and judicial hearings related to civil disputes, family and property cases, etc. they also were informed about the content of judicial decisions (judgement, rulings), where they had the opportunity to compare the legislation of two countries, compare the content of judicial decisions and exchange experiences in judicial field. As determined in the agenda, was conducted a meeting with the two newly appointed judges attending the Initial Training Program, where they discussed about the judicial system in Kosovo and exchanged different experiences related to the activities implemented within the Initial Training Program.
ENM candidates paid a visit to the Correctional Center in Lipjan, where were informed about the role and the mandate of this Center, its organizational structure and functioning, as well as the category of detained persons in the Correctional Center. Further, together with the staff of the Center, they visited the premises of this institution, seeing closely the surroundings of the Correctional Center in Lipjan, conditions and activities provided by the Center for detainees and their medical and psychologic treatment.
Also during this period were conducted meetings with representatives of national and international institutions, such as Constitutional Court of Kosovo, USAID, and EULEX, representatives from Twinning Project, Council of Europe and GIZ.
At the end of the program, ENM candidates conducted a final meeting at the Academy, with the purpose of discussing their impression about the organization of the internship program, how much knowledge they gained about the judicial prosecutorial system in Kosovo, and provided their recommendations for organization of similar joint programs in the future.
This is the fourth generation of the candidates of the Magistrate school of France following the internship program in Kosovo.
16-02-2018