Closing event of the EU project EUKOJUST

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.