Balkans Regional Rule of Law Network Path to Sustainability program

Building on the successes of the USAID-funded program and to further support the sustainability of the Balkans Regional Rule of Law Network (BRRLN) program, in 2016 ABA ROLI launched the Balkans Regional Rule of Law Network Path to Sustainability program, funded by the US Department of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. In January 2017, ABA ROLI successfully registered BRRLN as an independent local entity and will continue to focus its activities on building the capacity and sustainability of BRRLN. The Balkans Regional Rule of Law Network Path to Sustainability program ran from 2016-2019. 2019 marked the sixth and final year of ABA ROLI convening this now independent network of criminal defense actors driven by civil society organizations and bar associations in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, and Serbia. As such, programming focused on strengthening the network’s organizational capabilities including overseeing the member-driven creation of a network-wide mandate and strategy plan, the establishment of a membership fee structure, and the transfer of administrative duties to the network's local representatives in each member bar association.

In addition to these efforts, ABA ROLI also provided technical assistance to the network's thematic working groups on anti-corruption, Ex Officio (Court Appointed Judges) and criminal law. Key successes included the monitoring of court appointments by civil society organizations in four of the member countries as well as the submissions of sentencing recommendations to the parliaments of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Kosovo. ABA ROLI also facilitated the publication of a region-wide analysis on asset seizure by the Anti-Corruption group with insights from European experts. 

Since August 2019, BRRLN has been operating as an independent organization. As the Balkan states move on their individual paths towards EU accession, bar associations and civil society organizations under this innovative framework are enthusiastically continuing region-wide collaboration to empower advocacy driven rule of law reforms in their home countries.

Among the most notable accomplishments, ABA ROLI’s activities in the Western Balkans have included:

• Establishing the first legal clinics in Bosnia
• Assisting in war crimes documentation in Croatia, Serbia, and Kosovo
• Setting up the first national ombudsman’s office in Albania
• Providing legal assistance to refugees and indigent communities in Macedonia and assisting the Macedonian and Serbian Bar Associations to establish themselves as independent voices in their respective legal community
• Building the capacity of an anti-corruption coordinating agency in Montenegro
• Helping to establish the Judges’ Association, Prosecutors’ Association, Magistrates’ Association, and the Macedonian and Serbian Young Lawyers’ Associations