Building the law profession in Kosovo

For Burhan Maxhuni, his dream of becoming a lawyer was first interrupted in 1989, when as a law student, he was arrested for attempting to attend a speech in Pristina given by former US Congressman Joseph DioGuardi, an Albanian American supporter of Albanian Kosovars. "Everything was peaceful," Maxhuni says. "We were just there to cheer the delegation. I remember that day well." He had his first real taste of the law when he was sentenced that year to two months in prison for peacefully demonstrating against the Serb government.

Though he graduated in 1991, like many law students, he was unable to find work and eventually left for Germany in 1993. It was 2000, when he returned to his home in Mitrovica, northern Kosovo, that his dream of becoming a lawyer started to come true. It was then that he was selected for a legal education program that placed him with a practicing attorney for one year.

"I like this project very much because I want to be a lawyer," says Maxhuni. "I also want to attend more schooling. I want to be involved with the law somewhere and be good at my profession. This program will help me to get involved with law again, and in the profession again, and will allow me to earn money. I don't know if I could do it without this program. In the photo: Bujar Maxhuni (3rd from left) meeting with law practicants trained.

USAID supported the ABA/CEELI "praktikant program" as one part of the Mission 's rule-of-law programs, as a way to increase the number of professionals practicing law. New lawyers were needed in Kosovo following the conflict, but without the internship they could not practice. ABA/CEELI and its local partner, the Kosovo Chamber of Advocates, helped 60 participants in the praktikant program gain the necessary experience. During their internships, law school graduates go to court, file papers, talk to clients, all the daily work that is expected of professionals, explains Lirije Osmani, president of the Kosovo Chamber. Graduates receive a 200-euro/month stipend to help make ends meet. Following the program, participants are eligible to take the bar and become full-fledged legal professionals in Kosovo, serving as advocates, judges or prosecutors.

"Young lawyers like Burhan, who saw the law used unfairly against them, have an opportunity to bring their energy and experience to the benefit of Kosovo's recovery. For the chamber and its membership, the program is an opportunity to grow the ranks of their profession, which should play a crucial role in preventing any reoccurrence of conflict," says Gregory Gisvold, former director of ABA/CEELI programs in Kosovo. Kosovo had only 252 lawyers at the start of the program, and their average age was 55, explains Osmani. USAID's support of the praktikant program has increased the number of young lawyers in Kosovo, and will continue to do so as the program expands.