The launch of the project “Promoting Integrity in the Justice System”

Prishtina, 24 May 2017 – Lëvizja FOL in cooperation with the Kosovo Democratic Institute and the Center for International Legal Cooperation (CILC) with headquarters in The Hague, launched today the project “Promoting Integrity in the Justice System”. This project, which is supported by the Dutch Embassy in Pristina, aims to increase the integrity and empowerment of the independence of the judiciary and the state prosecutor with a view to establishing a strong justice system and improving public confidence in the justice system.

The Dutch Ambassador to Kosovo, Gerrie Willems said that with the implementation of this project we will come to understand the current situation regarding integrity in the judicial and prosecutorial system, deepen the knowledge of integrity and build capacity to deal with integrity issues in the judicial system and prosecution. At the same time, citizens will be aware of issues of integrity in the justice sector.

“This project will open the debate on a different perspective of integrity in the Kosovo justice system. In this way, the aim is to increase the trust of citizens in the prosecution and the court and the rule of law in Kosovo will be improved in general,” Ambassador Willems said.

Deputy Director of the Center for International Legal Cooperation, Eric Vincken said that integrity is the concept we face every day in whatever role we have and that it is not a particular term used solely for the judiciary. “Integrity also needs permanent maintenance, monitoring and mechanisms to deal with integrity violations, not just in Kosovo or the Netherlands, but in any country of the world,” he said.

While the Kosovo Judicial Council chairman, Mr. Nehat Idrizi, emphasized that this project serves as a sufficient conceptual framework for carrying out research, analysis, recommendations and capacity building regarding the integrity of actors in the Kosovo judicial system. “We have consistently expressed our friendly approach to initiatives aimed at promoting integrity and increasing public trust in the work of the judicial system,” Idrizi said.

Whereas, the Head of the Kosovo Prosecutorial Council, Blerim Isufaj emphasized that integrity is a vital prerequisite for the independent, impartial and professional functioning of the justice system, and according to him, any integrity-oriented activity is very important for the system. “Assistance to this project in carrying out qualitative and quantitative researches will help us enormously in identifying the progress and challenges of the prosecutorial system, which will be support for the council for making the right decisions,” he said.

The event was concluded with the signing ceremony of the memorandum of cooperation related to this project between project representatives and chairpersons of both councils.