Reinforcement of the Rule of Law

Project description

This complex project, which began in 2001, supported the efforts of the front-line EU candidates to strengthen the rule of law through judicial reform. It comprised four modules addressing basic components of a judicial system:

• Module 1: An Independent Judiciary
• Module 2: Status and Role of the Public Prosecutor
• Module 3: Court Procedures and Execution of Judgements
• Module 4: Safety of Victims, Witnesses, Judges, Prosecutors, Defense Lawyers and Jurors

The originally horizontal project design included activities that were meant to be applied across the board to all ten candidate states. But it soon became clear that the countries were too diverse to be lumped together, and a more flexible approach was adopted. The main project activities consisted of:

• Drafting of reports on the current state of affairs with regard to the rule of law in the ten candidate countries, including recommendations how to improve the situation;
• Implementation of a capacity building program emanating from the country reports.