EULEX’s Anti-Corruption Team organized one-day specialized workshop on investigations techniques and legal issues in disciplinary proceedings. The workshop, held on December 14, was organized with the goal of supporting EULEX’s Monitoring, Mentoring and Advising mandate and ensuring sustainability of the Missions' activities.

The workshop was attended by investigators from the Office of the Disciplinary Counsel/Prosecutor and legal officers from the Kosovo Prosecutorial Council’s and Kosovo Judicial Council’s Disciplinary Committees. Volkan Parildar, EULEX’s Serious Crimes Unit Investigator, Robert Kucharski, EULEX Prosecutor, and Heidi Lempio, EULEX Human Rights and Legal Officer, led the training portion of the workshop. 

Following 12 months of monitoring and reporting analysis, the Anti-Corruption Team identified several shortcomings in terms of interviewing judges, prosecutors, and witness, collecting evidence for disciplinary proceedings. The workshop utilized these findings to strengthen the skills of investigators and legal officers in performing these tasks. In addition the European Court of Human Rights case law related to disciplinary proceedings was discussed with the participants. 

“The disciplinary proceedings concerning Judges and Prosecutors are very important in order to ensure the accountability and the high integrity demanded from the judicial system. They are meant to ensure that Judges and Prosecutors continue to meet the high behavioral requirements to perform these tasks and thus maintain public trust. The principles of accountability to the law and equality before the law are important aspects of the rule of law concept,” explained Vlora Marmullakaj, EULEX Anticorruption Officer.

EULEX’s Anti-Corruption Team will follow-up on the results and impacts of the workshop in order to design similar trainings over the coming months.