Internship program of the candidates of National Magistrate School of France – ENM

Based on the Cooperation Agreement between the Academy of Justice (former KJI) and the National School of Magistrates of France - ENM, from 20th February until 10th of March, two candidates of this school have stayed in Kosovo for the internship program (practical training program).

The objectives of this program remains on the information about the judicial system in Kosovo, which in particular includes: investigation and adjudication of criminal offenses, the application of penalties, judicial family matters, contract and liabilities, understanding the international dimension of justice (support to cooperation and research in comparative law) and understanding of foreign systems for training of judges.

The Academy played a key role in preparation of this internship program which consists of a practical training conducted in courts and prosecution offices with the support of the international and national judges/prosecutors in Kosovo.

The candidate’s agenda commenced with the meeting in the Academy of Justice, where they were informed in general about the functioning of the judicial and prosecutorial system in Kosovo, the functions, responsibilities and programs implemented by the Academy. Also, they had the opportunity to attend a training on European Convention on Human Rights and Freedoms implemented on the Initial Training for newly appointed prosecutors.

According to the agenda, ENM candidates continued the training in the Basic Prosecution and Basic Court in Prishtina, with the support of a prosecutors and two judges, one of civil field and one of criminal field. The candidates also had the opportunity to attend different court sessions regarding investigation procedure to the prosecutor, where they gained a broad knowledge about the judicial system, such as adjudication of criminal offences, in particular corruption offences and application of sentences in Kosovo.  

Also, during this program, the candidates had the opportunity to attend different court sessions regarding family disputes, domestic violence, and the role of the litigants, hearing of witnesses, matters related to contracts and other material and procedural aspects in civil field. A special emphasis was paid to understanding of the procedures, comparison of judicial systems of two countries, as well as exchange of experiences in the judicial area.