Reading Treaties and Avoiding the Heat

As my time in Pristina nears its end, things have been very busy for the CLARD team. My work has remained focused on researching extradition, but my coworkers have been attending meetings inside and outside the office, writing reports, continuing to work on their other projects, and going to court, sometimes traveling as far as Peja to do so. Since I'm only doing my one research project, my schedule is much less hectic and allows me to stay in the office most of the day.

Staying in the office is especially nice right now because, like much of the world, Kosovo is experiencing yet another intense heat wave. For the past week, temperatures have risen to the mid or even high nineties Fahrenheit. Because of the heat, Kosovo's Ministry of Health issued a decision limiting or even canceling work for certain higher risk groups through July 20. During this period, according to the decision, those with chronic illnesses must work no more than four hours per day, and those who are pregnant must either be released from work or work from home. Construction work in open spaces is also prohibited between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m., the hottest hours of the day. Temperatures are predicted to decrease next week, so hopefully those predictions are correct. If high temperatures do continue, the Ministry of Health has said that it may take additional measures.

While I continue to work steadily in the shelter of the CLARD office, not all of the documents I have been reading and taking notes on have been strictly extradition agreements. My main resource thus far has been the Ministry of Justice's website, which has a page that features pdfs of many agreements between Kosovo and other countries. Some of these agreements are specifically extradition agreements, while others are agreements for mutual legal assistance and agreements for the transfer of sentenced persons. Because these three types of agreements are so closely related, Anton told me that he wants me to read all of them, not just the extradition agreements alone. Therefore, I have become very familiar not only with the language of extradition agreements, but also mutual legal assistance and transfer of sentenced persons agreements as well.

Outside of work, the highlight of this week was the final game of the Euros. Since the game was at night, crowds could gather by the cathedral to watch it without being stuck in the worst of the heat. Stephanie and I did not go out to watch the whole game, but we did stop by for a few minutes just to check it out. A bright, colorful fireworks display went off at the end of the game, which Stephanie and I were able to see from where we're staying. Here are some photos of it:

Some of the fireworks by the cathedral.Another part of the fireworks.More fireworks.

It's hard to believe that I'm almost at the end of this internship. I'm going to save most of my end-of-summer reflections for my final blog post, but I really have enjoyed getting to know my coworkers and learning from them about their work at CLARD, as well as Kosovo's laws and history. Anton told me today that if I ever come back to Kosovo, their door will always be open for me. While I don't know yet where my interest in international law will end up taking me for the rest of my career, I will definitely keep this in mind, and I really appreciate having the opportunity to learn so much and build connections with the team here. See you next time with my closing thoughts!