Justice & home affairs

The European Union places particular importance on justice and home affairs. Establishing the rule of law and creating public confidence in the police and courts remains a challenge in the western Balkan countries.

Supporting efforts by government to restructure policing, the Agency manages projects that promote training, and provide police with new hardware. In Serbia, for example, special laboratories were equipped to carry out forensic tests on DNA and ballistics. The courts in Belgrade now operate more efficiently with new computers that can log and track cases.

In Kosovo, the Agency has developed a legal aid system designed to help the poor. Some 31 legal aid desks, spread throughout the province, provide the poor with free legal advice and representation. More than 31,000 people from all Kosovo’s communities have used this system. Building on this success, the Agency is now working with local and international partners to develop a comprehensive and sustainable legal aid system in Kosovo.

Meanwhile, court houses were rehabilitated and, like in Serbia, set up with new computerised systems to log cases and improve general administration. Training courses have been established to develop the skills and expertise of legal professionals and support students through the bar examinations. Expert advisers are also encouraging the Provisional Institutions of Self-Government to institute legislation that will ensure new laws are maintained.

Following the conflict in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, in 2001, the Agency took immediate steps to establish a police presence in areas vulnerable to renewed violence. Police have received new equipment, including vehicles and computers. The EU, through the Agency has trained judges and prosecutors, and provided computer equipment. This has led to more efficient case management – from registering claims and archiving cases to preparing and delivering verdicts – improving the courts’ ability to handle cases and provide citizens with timely judicial services.

To help combat organised crime, which operates throughout the region, efforts are underway to improve facilities at major border crossing points, and assist local efforts to stem the flow of smuggling. Border police, particularly in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, are receiving new hardware allowing them to communicate more efficiently from one part of the border to another, and to administer better background checks on passports. A major project in Serbia at Horgos, a border crossing with Hungary, will establish an important “gateway” for goods and people travelling to and from an enlarged EU.

EU assistance for justice and home affairs managed by the Agency:

See here a presentation on the Agency’s work in justice and home affairs, May 2006

'In the dock: justice in the Balkans' - a story on how the EU is helping the western Balkan countries create independent and reliable judiciaries, July 2003

For a more detailed presentation of the Agency’s activities in the sector please see Kosovo, Serbia, Montenegro, former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.