On July 23rd 2018, Academy of Justice and the EU Twinning Project “Further Support to Legal Education Report” conducted the closing conference of this Project. The Twinning Project “Further support to legal education Reform” was funded by the European Union implemented by the German - Dutch consortium, represented by the German Foundation for International Legal Cooperation (IRZ) and the Dutch Center for International Legal Aid (CILC), where beneficiary of this Project was Academy of Justice.
Main purpose of this project was empowering the Rule of Law in Kosovo through improvement of the training and legal professional education, particularly supporting the transformation process of the Academy of Justice increasing its capacities for training.
Present at this closing conference were the State Chief prosecutor Mr. Aleksandër Lumezi who at the same time is Chairman of the Academy’s Managing Board, Mr. Enver Peci President of the Supreme Court, representatives of the European Union Office in Kosovo, the IRZ and CILC, and other international and national organizations, judges and prosecutors.
Mr. Aleksandër Lumezi, in this occasion highlighted the Academy’s efforts who in compliance with its legal mandate, aimed to enhance the training programs and increase the quality of professional services for judges and prosecutors, with the continuous support of the twinning project. In his speech, Mr. Lumezi emphasized the fact that Academy of Justice in 2017 closed the process of transformation from the Kosovo Judicial Institute. “During this time there were numerous meetings, discussions, consultations, comparative analysis between different systems of the judicial training in the region and in EU countries, concept papers, and as a final point everyone agreed that the actual system that is set by the Law on Academy of Justice, is the most suitable for Kosovo, and it is fully functional also in this stage, when the outcomes of this project are being presented. To include also the value of other donor projects that have supported the Academy of Justice for years, and whose support made the Academy a distinguished training institution alongside to other judicial training institutions in the region and further”.
Ms. Katarina Grbesa, representative of the European Union Office in Kosovo, underlined the fact that in this two-year period the Academy has had great challenges, like the transformation process, and the state administrative reform but we managed to push through our ideas thanks to excellent cooperation with the Academy of Justice, Kosovo Judicial Council and the Kosovo Prosecutorial Council. She also emphasized that in the reforms process the academy of Justice shall be treated as an independent institution.
Mr. Valon Kurtaj, Director of the Academy of Justice, Ms. Christine Jacobi, head of the Project, representative of the German Foundation for International Legal Cooperation (IRZ) and Ms. Eva Erren, Head of the Project from the Dutch Center for Free Legal Aid (CILC), presented the role and importance of cooperation between national and international institutions, with the purpose of achieving high results in implementation of projects similar to this one, at the same time the highlighted the significant role that the Academy of Justice has for building an independent, impartial and professional judicial system.
Mr. Klaus Erdman Resident Advisor as well as expert for carrying out this project, in his speech summarized the main results of the project like: elaboration of the Strategic Plan 2018-2020 for the Academy, presentation of the competence framework for judges and prosecutors, the Case-based Training Handbook and the Handbook for Training Management, that will contribute to efficiency and sustainability of the project results, as well as many other activities.
23-07-2018