Kosovo Justice Academy (KJA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with several Kosovo civil society organisations (CSOs), including BIRN and Internews Kosova, Kosovo Democratic Institute, Kosovo Law Institute, Advocacy Training & Resource Center – ATRC, Qendra Kosovare për Studime Gjinore, Voice of Roma, Ashkali and Egyptians, Cel Kosovo, CSGD, on Tuesday, 31 May 2022.
The Memorandum entails the use of experience and capacities of non-governmental organizations in promoting good practices for judges, prosecutors, and support staff in matters related to human rights, anti-corruption, organized crime, access to justice and accountability, under the Friends of the Academy Network. In line with the approved Kosovo Rule of Law Strategy and Action Plan, the signing of the Memorandum was preceded by intense consultations between non-governmental organizations, Kosovo Justice Academy and EUKOJUST Expert on Access to Justice, Alina Laura Matache.
Moreover, at the event KJA and civil society had the opportunity to exchange information over training curricula’s quality and adult learning in the judicial sector, while Dragomir Yordanov, EUKOJUST Expert on training and capacity building, delivered a presentation on the best practices on judicial training methodology.
In concrete terms, the Memorandum of Understanding aims at:
- An increased ability for the Kosovo Justice Academy to conduct training needs assessment; to gather and analyze useful and timely information about legal shortcomings.
- Increased ability of KJA and CSOs to work together in developing innovative, long-term approaches to enhance judicial training.
- Joint efforts towards enhancing rule of law through contribution to human rights education of high quality.
- Joint efforts in advancing the agenda of gender equality and women empowerment, through supporting platforms to ensure that the justice sector stakeholders are gender sensitized in their approach when dealing with women survivors of violence considering national legal framework and international best practices.
- Coordinated response mechanism from the state, the judiciary and legal community and other stakeholders will increase vulnerable communities’ access to justice.
