Twinning projects

IV.4. Workshop: Mass-media training for spokespersons of the SCM and of the courts and prosecutor’s offices – 1^st week

MS Experts:

• 
  Anneke Schreinemakers, judge and spokesperson at the Tribunal of Maastricht, the Netherlands,
  
• 
  Günther Feld, prosecutor and spokesperson of the Prosecutor’s Office attached to the Tribunal of Cologne, Germany,
  
• 
  The RTA, Judge at the Appeal Court of Cologne and former spokesperson of the Tribunal of Cologne, Germany
  

BC participants: about 130 spokespersons from courts and prosecutors’ offices

Duration: 11.09 – 15.09.2006

• IV.4. Workshop: Mass-media training for spokespersons of the SCM and of the courts and prosecutor’s offices – 2^nd week

MS Experts:

• 
  Anneke Schreinemakers, judge and spokesperson at the Tribunal of Maastricht, the Netherlands,
  
• 
  Günther Feld, prosecutor and spokesperson of the Prosecutor’s Office attached to the Tribunal of Cologne, Germany,
  
• 
  The RTA, Judge at the Appeal Court of Cologne and former spokesperson of the Tribunal of Cologne, Germany
  

BC participants: about 100 spokespersons from courts and prosecutors’ offices

Duration: 16 – 20.10.2006

Meetings took place in Amara, for the spokespersons from the courts and prosecutor’s offices in the counties Ialomita, Constanta, Călăraş and Buzău, in Braila for the spokespersons from the courts and prosecutor’s offices in the counties Brăila, Tulcea, Galaţi and Buzău, in Bacău for the spokespersons from the courts and prosecutor’s offices in the counties Bacău, Vrancea and Vaslui, in Botosani for the spokespersons from the courts and prosecutor’s offices in the counties Botoşani and Suceava and in Iasi, for the spokespersons from the courts and prosecutor’s offices in the counties Iaşi, Neamţ and Vaslui.

• IV.4. Workshop: Mass-media training for spokespersons of the SCM and of the courts and prosecutor’s offices – 3^rd week

MS Experts:

• 
  Ralph Neubauer, spokesperson of the Ministry of Justice of Rhineland-Westphalia
  
• 
  Günther Feld, prosecutor and spokesperson of the Prosecutor’s Office attached to the Tribunal of Cologne, Germany,
  
• 
  The RTA, Judge at the Appeal Court of Cologne and former spokesperson of the Tribunal of Cologne, Germany
  

BC participants: about 120 spokespersons from courts and prosecutors’ offices

Duration: 11.12 – 15.12.2006

Meetings took place in Pitesti, for the spokespersons from the courts and prosecutor’s offices in the counties Olt, Valcea and Arges, in Bucharest for the spokespersons from the courts and prosecutor’s offices in the counties Teleorman, Dambovita and Giurgiu (first day) and Prahova and Bucharest (second day), in Brasov for the spokespersons from the courts and prosecutor’s offices in the counties Brasov, Covasna and Harghita, in Targu Mures for the spokespersons from the courts and prosecutor’s offices in the counties Mures, Harghita and Bistrita-Nasaud.

• IV.5. Seminar: The SCM and the Magistrates’ Associations – the defining differences in terms of functions and objectives and with regard to areas for partnership and areas of potential antagonism

MS Experts:

• 
  Christiane Berkani, France
  
• 
  Marco Pivetti, Italy
  

BC participants: 24

President of the SCM, members of the Council, representatives of magistrates’s associations throughout the country, Head and other staff of the Legislative Department, Head of the Economics and Administrative Department, representatives of NGOs.

Duration: 28.06 – 29.06.2006
(For further details, please see the Report in Annex 8, 1^st Quarterly Report)

• IV.6. Workshop: Developing a strategy for the launching of a law journal to be published under the auspices of the SCM, as a forum for juridical discussions and as a source of information on legislative changes and leading court decisions

MS Experts:

• 
  Rainer Voss, Germany
  
• 
  Peter Busse, Germany
  

BC participants: 13

Members of the SCM, members of the SCM administration.

Duration: 11 – 12.01.2007

• IV.7 Internship for 2 members of the press and public relations unit of the SCM

BC intern: Cecilia Morariu, spokesperson of the SCM

MS Experts:

The Netherlands:

• 
  Anneke Schreinemakers, judge and spokesperson at the Tribunal of Maastricht, the Netherlands
  
• 
  A. Pouw, Department of Communication of the Council of the Judiciary
  
• 
  Paula Keuning, communication advisor at the district court in The Hague
  
• 
  E. van Rens and R. Elkerbout, judges, spokespersons of the court
  
• 
  Erik Koster, press judge and chairman of the council of press judges of the Dutch judiciary
  

Germany:

• 
  Hubertus Nolte, judge, spokesperson of the Court of Appeal Köln
  
• 
  Holger Brantin, judge, spokesperson of the Tribunal Aachen
  

• 
  Ralph Neubauer, spokesperson of the Ministry of Justice of Rhineland-Westphalia
  
• 
  Günther Feld, prosecutor and spokesperson of the Prosecutor’s Office attached to the Tribunal of Cologne, Germany,
  

Duration: 20.11 – 01.12.2006


FURTHER ACTIVITIES IN SUPPORT OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE TWINNING PROJECT
11^TH OF APRIL - MAY 2006

• 
  Numerous discussions of the RTA with the SCM President, Secretary General and leading staff of the Council.
  
• 
  Participation of the RTA in the Monitoring Group on Justice Reform Strategy Action Plan organized at the level of the SCM.
  
• 
  Participation of the RTA in the working group at the SCM level on job profiles for judges and prosecutors and criteria for evaluating the professional performance of magistrates.
  
• 
  Participation of the RTA in the Working Group on Legislation concerned with elaborating a draft law on fostering consistent jurisprudence
  
• 
  Elaboration by the RTA, in coordination with the President of the Council, of a Draft Law on fostering consistent jurisprudence
  
• 
  Participation of the RTA in the quarterly monitoring meeting at the MoJ; discussions with Mr Codescu and Mr Galca
  
• 
  Participation of the RTA in the working group on mass media relations, in finalizing Guidelines for the cooperation of spokespersons of courts and prosecutor's offices with mass media. In the meantime the guidelines have been adopted by the SCM
  
• 
  Participation of the RTA in a meeting with German MEPs
  

JUNE 2006

• 
  Discussions with the SCM President, with the Secretary General and leading staff of the Council.
  
• 
  Discussion of the RTA with Mr. Galca on the German Code of Civil Procedure, in order to contribute to the elaboration of the new Code
  
• 
  Meeting of the RTA with the Director and the Deputy director of the NIM to discuss the future procedure for the admission of candidates to the NIM
  
• 
  Participation of the RTA in the 2-day session of the SCM Working Group on the evaluation of judgments
  
• 
  Participation of the RTA in a seminar organized by the Friedrich Naumann Stiftung in Istanbul
  
• 
  Meeting of the RTA with Mr Tudorache and Mr Codescu at the Ministry of Justice to discuss on a Draft Law on preserving consistent jurisprudence
  
• 
  Meeting of the RTA with a representative of the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung in Bucharest
  

1^ST TO 10^TH OF JULY 2006

• 
  Participation of the RTA in the Monitoring Group on Justice Reform Strategy Action Plan organized at the level of the SCM.
  
• 
  Meetings with the President of the Council, inspectors of the Judicial Inspection attached to the Plenum of the SCM, with the Director of the National Institute of the Magistracy.
  
• 
  Meeting of the RTA with the Secretary of State from the Ministry of Justice, Mr Stoica
  

11^TH OF JULY – 1^ST OF AUGUST 2006

• 
  Meetings of the RTA with the President of the SCM, the Secretary General of the Council, the Head of the Judicial Inspection, Secretary of State Stoica of the MoJ, members of the SCM, the director of the National Institute of Magistrates, the Task Manager of the ECD.
  
• 
  Participation in one meeting of the working group on Judicial Inspection.
  
• 
  Corroboration of the first draft of a Law on Ensuring Consistent Jurisprudence and corroboration of the justification for the draft proposal and of observations on individual provisions of the draft law. A first discussion of the draft of the RTA had taken place with Secretary of State Codescu and ECD Task Manager Tudorache on June 22, 2006.
  

AUGUST 2006

• 
  Finalising and presentation of a revised Draft Law on Ensuring Consistent Jurisprudence and of the Justification and Motivation of its provisions. Preparation of a Draft Law on disciplinary procedure to be presented to the Working Group on Disciplinary Matters and Inspection.
  
• 
  Preparation of draft amendments of the provisions concerning evaluation in Law no. 303/2004 to be discussed in the Working Group on Evaluation.
  
• 
  Participation of the RTA in a conference on the role of the Judicial Inspection, organized by the SCM, with participation of President and Vice-President of the Council, members of the SCM, inspectors from the Judicial Inspection, judges and prosecutors, Professors of Law and representatives of Magistrate’s Associations.
  
• 
  Participation in the discussions between the SCM representatives and the Experts of the EC on the occasion of the Peer-review mission, on August 31st, 2006. Exchange of letters with the Ministry of Justice concerning issues of the German Penal Code and Code of Penal Procedure and providing the MoJ with translations.
  
• 
  (Preparation of) discussions on various subjects with the President of the SCM, the Head of the Judicial Inspection, the RTA counterpart, representatives of the EC Delegation, representatives of the German Embassy, the Spanish RTA with the DNA.
  
• 
  Preparation of the 1st Quarterly Report. Organization and preparations for the Twinning activities to be carried out in the remaining months of 2006.
  

SEPTEMBER 2006

• 
  Meeting of the RTA with the members of the Working Group established at the level of the Ministry of Justice for the Reform of the Code of Civil Procedure for a discussion on the Draft Law for Ensuring Consistent Jurisprudence presented by the RTA.
  
• 
  Participation of the RTA in the Working Group for the Evaluation of Prosecutors. Participation of the RTA in a meeting of the SCM working groups on Legislation and Evaluation.
  
• 
  Participation of the RTA in the regular Monitoring meeting held by the SCM. Meetings of the RTA with the Romanian Project Leader and the RTA counterpart.
  
• 
  Meeting with Mrs. Radulescu, SCM member in charge with WB Programs, for harmonizing the two programs in respect of activities concerning the evaluation of magistrates.
  
• 
  Meeting of the RTA with Mrs. Roos from the Konrad-Adenauer Foundation and with Mr. van Niewkerk of ADROIT Consulting, former PAA, regarding coordination of related activities.
  
• 
  Preparations for the activities to be carried out in October, November and December 2006.
  
• 
  Participation of the RTA in a meeting at the German Embassy with German counsellors to Romanian institutions.
  

1^ST TO 10^TH OF OCTOBER 2006

• 
  Meetings of the RTA with the President of the SCM, the BC PL and other SCM members (Dr. Lupascu, Mrs. Harastasanu).
  
• 
  Meeting at the German Embassy.
  
• 
  Participation of the RTA in the regular Monitoring meeting held by the SCM.
  
• 
  1^st Steering Committee Meeting.
  

11- 31 OCTOBER 2006

• 
  First Steering Committee meeting on October 11, 2007
  
• 
  Meetings of the RTA with the President of the SCM, the BC Project Leaders and other SCM members (Dr. Lupascu, Mrs. Harastasanu).
  
• 
  Meeting at the German Embassy.
  
• 
  Participation of the RTA in the regular Monitoring meetings held by the SCM
  

NOVEMBER 2006

• 
  Participation of the RTA, with the consent of the EU Delegation in Bucharest, in a multilateral conference, “Independence of Justice in Europe”, organized in Croatia, from November 13th to 16th.
  
• 
  Participation of the RTA in the regular Monitoring meeting held by the SCM.
  
• 
  Participation of the RTA, upon invitation of President Lupascu, in a general meeting of the judges of the Court of Appeal Bucharest.
  

DECEMBER 2006

• 
  Meeting of the RTA with the President of the SCM, the BC PL and the Task Manager of the ECD.
  
• 
  Preparations for activities to be implemented in the first quarter of 2007and translation of comparative law materials.
  

JANUARY 2007

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