Assignment Name
Supreme Court - Study Tour to Germany and Austria
Field/Topic
Public Administration ReformDonor / Source of Funding
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)Beneficiary
Supreme Court (Uzbekistan)Description
In the context of the “UNDP Rule of Law Partnership Project” a study tour for a delegation from the Republic of Uzbekistan comprising judges from the Supreme Court, officials from the Presidential Administration, academics, and judiciary experts was designed, organized and conducted by indecon. The study tour lasted 10 days (7th to the 18th of May 2017) and visited numerous high- and mid-level courts (including the Suprem Court), Ministries of Justice, Judiciary Training Facilities and Association of Judges in Germany and Austria. The main objective of the study tour was to enhance the knowledge and technical skills of the participants by providing them with an opportunity to study experience and best practices of German and Austrian judiciaries in the areas of administrative justice, jurisdiction of administrative courts, selection and appointment of judges, and training of judges.
Halfway through the study tour a full-day classroom training workshop was conducted by indecon to consolidate the hitherto gained knowledge of the participants. The workshop provided a brief overview on the organisational structure and functioning of state organs and the judiciary in the Federal Republic of Germany. It focused on the German judiciary system, formal requirements to court rulings and main aspects of legal reasoning, issues of electronic case management, and the legal education and remuneration of judges. Emphasis was upon the separation of distinct parts of a judgement as well as separation of facts form legal opinion and undisputed and disputed facts.
A second main topic was the style of legal reasoning stressing the aspect that a court decision must give sufficient answer to the following questions:
- What does the plaintiff want?
- Who is the defendant?
- On which norm may the claim be based?
- What are the requirements of that special norm?
- Do facts comply with legal requirements?
- What are the objections from the plaintiff’s side’?
- Are they founded?
Furthermore, a a case study of CEPEJ was presented and discussed.
Type of Services Provided
- Preparing list of recommended Austrian and German organizations operating in areas of interest for the project;
- Preparing draft programme for the study tour;
- Managing the visits to selected organisations in both countries;
- Coordinating presentations of organisations with which visits have been agreed;
- Managing logistical aspects of the Study Tour in accordance with the program (transport, accommodation, translation, meals);
- Conducting a desk review of the Austrian and German judicial organizations and their best practices and experiences in areas of interest of study tour;
- Producing a presentation and delivering a one-day classroom workshop for study visit participants including an overview of organizations to be visited, formal requirements for court decisions, legal drafting, style of judicial reasoning, and court and case administration.