Ndhimë Juridike Falas
I’m convinced jaywalking in Kosovo is an extreme sport that everybody participates in. Crossing streets in Kosovo is a lot like playing Jumper Frog, except you’re essentially using your fragile body as its own hostage to get a car to stop for you. It’s like those police standoffs where the person is holding a knife or a gun to themselves and they threaten to injure or kill themselves and the police can’t shoot otherwise they’d harm them. The sport of jaywalking here has taught me timing, speed, and more importantly courage. I haven’t had any close calls so far, but let’s pray I don’t get too cocky; I don’t think I can stop 3,500 pounds of steel.
It may sound cheesy, but this job has given me a different appreciation for lawyers that I didn’t have before. Growing up you’re constantly told that the government is this good entity, and the police are there to protect you and they both have your best interests in mind. From what I am seeing, government is slow to react with lots of bureaucratic red tape and police can neglect their duties. It feels like an attorney is a sword and shield for their client and it is hard not to get frustrated when their cases are not taken and tried quickly. Delays in the process can have dangerous consequences. For example, that domestic abuse victim who is sitting across from you right now who is explaining all the ways in which her ex-husband has been stalking her, that may be the last time you will ever see her again. Former partners killing their estranged partners is depressingly common. The logic they have is that if they cannot have them, then no one else can. Their partner is their possession, not an autonomous human being with their own needs and wants. It’s a scary reality we live in. That reality weighs on your conscious, and it creeps into the back of your mind as you are conducting your investigations, reading dossiers, and drafting your motions. There isn’t too much you can do besides overzealous representation for your client and making sure courts take the case seriously and they try things in a timely matter and to hold any police that neglect their duty to disciplined action. You just need to give your best effort and you must accept that anything outside of your control is outside of your control.
The job of an attorney in these highly emotional cases is part attorney and part therapist. Many times, we’re the only other people really fighting for them. Nobody comes to a free legal aid office because they have a plethora of options and life is going well. We’re their only hope for a solution to their legal problems. It’s common for clients to get emotional; they get angry, or they cry, and sometimes you need to tell a joke to ease the tensions. They always appreciate that. It’s easy to get sucked into a case, especially when you see these clients regularly, and with that comes emotional attachment. I don’t think it’s all bad to get emotionally attached, as it provides a lot of motivation, the downside is, sometimes you have got to be objective. You must occasionally take a step back and see things from a different angle, because up to this point, you’ve only heard your client’s side. Despite this job showing me some bad sides of humanity, it’s still very rewarding and I actually look forward to go to work.
On a lighter note, Serbo-Croatian lessons have been going great. This language is the most foreign language I’ve ever studied. Even when I was learning some French and Italian the words weren’t incredibly foreign as many words in Spanish or English are the same or very similar. Serbo-Croation is incredibly foreign, although I’m sure if you know a Slavic language it’s not too bad. According to my teacher, she can understand about ninety percent of what Bulgarians are saying so I guess it goes to show how similar Slavic languages are. Until next time, doviđenja.