OSCE Mission's bar exam training helps rebuild Kosovo's legal system

It was not until 2001 that it became possible for them to take the bar exam again, under the legal framework put in place by the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo.

"Over a period of ten years, a large number of the legal professionals in Kosovo were not able to practice law," says Henry McGowen, Director of OSCE Mission in Kosovo's Human Rights, Decentralization and Communities Department.

"As a consequence, their knowledge of the applicable domestic law and basic human rights dropped significantly."

At first, the lack of capacity in Kosovo's legal community was partly filled by the UN Administration and international judges and prosecutors, who provided guidance to the courts on the applicable law and international human rights standards.

Developing local knowledge

But to help develop the local knowledge base, in 2001 the Mission started organizing a bar exam training programme with the aim of preparing legal professionals for their return to practicing law.

"The interest among jurists and legal professionals was vast," says Jasmin Gojani, the Mission's Human Rights Officer who co-ordinated the training. "More than 1,200 candidates submitted applications for the first training session."

Due to the strong interest, the training courses began running in three-month cycles. From October 2001 to December 2006, a total of 19 courses were organized and successfully completed by some 1,500 participants.

Comprehensive training

Each course included 16 training sessions covering a broad range of topics ranging from numerous aspects of civil and criminal law to international human rights standards. Mock exercises also helped the participants to better understand the course of court proceedings.

The sessions were led by local legal experts, judges, prosecutors, members of the Chamber of Advocates and professors of law from Kosovo.

One of the trainers was Adem Vokshi, a lawyer and former President of the Chamber of Advocates. "The programme has equipped participants with valuable knowledge that will help them to easily adapt to Kosovo's new legal environment.

"During the training sessions, I too had the chance to learn from the participants. This knowledge will be very useful to me in my future work," he says.

Blerim Ejupi, one of the participants, also says that the training helped him start a new chapter in his professional career: "After the exam I started work as a private lawyer. Now I am a member of the Chamber of Advocates."

Transfer of responsibility

Responsibility for the bar exam was transferred from the UN Administration to Kosovo's Ministry of Justice (MoJ) shortly after the latter was established in December 2005. The new Law on the Bar Examination entered into force in May 2006.

But although the MoJ has started to organize the exam in three month cycles, Kosovo's domestic institutions have not yet begun providing the preparatory training courses.

"The support that the OSCE has provided to Kosovo's legal community over the last five years through our bar exam training programme has helped to rebuild its rank and file," says McGowen.

"But for the time being, nobody offers this kind of training. However, we hope that that will change soon as our experience has shown that such training is very valuable in successfully preparing for the exam," he concludes.