Actions taken under the UNDP project on strengthening national capacities to provide effective training for legal professionals, discussed at the Steering Committee meeting

15. 07. 2022

Members of the Steering Committee project ,,Support to Justice Sector Reform in Moldova – Reinforcing the National Capacities to Provide Efficient Skills-Based Training for Legal Professionals” had their final meeting online, on Friday, 15 July 2022, to discuss the actions taken over the past two years.

The National Institute of Justice is the direct beneficiary of the project implemented by the United Nations Development Program, being represented by Ecaterina Popa, ad interim Director, Valentina Contescu, Head of the Institutional Management Department.

In the opening remarks, Ecaterina Popa, thanked the UNDP, US Embassy and NIJ teams for joint efforts to achieve ambitious reforms with measurable outcomes, referring in particular to the launch of the book „How judges think” by Richard Posner, trainees participation to the THEMIS competition of the European Judicial Training Network and for attendance of the NIJ representatives to the XXV General Assembly of the European Judicial Training Network, for development of ,,Legal English" course, and  as well as for involvement in the process of renovating the facade of the historical building of the NIJ.

Valentin Rosca, Project manager, presented the final report on the implementation of the project during November 2020- July 2022, on the two components: increasing the NIJ capacity to incorporate the concepts of research, reasoning and legal writing in the training process of legal professionals, as well as strengthening the institutional and technical capacities of NIJ, including the development of the digital side of the training provided.

During the meeting have spoken Valeria Ieseanu, Resident Representative ad Interim of the UNDP, Kevin Lanigan, Senior Justice Advisor from the US Embassy in the Republic of Moldova, Alexandru Cocarta, Programme Coordinator UNDP Moldova, Petru Moraru, member of the Superior Council of Magistracy and Valentina Contescu, Head of the Institutional Management Department.

The project "Support for Justice Sector Reform in Moldova - Reinforcing the National Capacities to Provide Efficient Skills - Based Training for Legal Professionals started last year and aims to strengthen the capacity of national structures to provide effective and skills-based training to legal professionals.