01.10.2014

It was a great pleasure to participate during this workshop. The participants were on an equal footing and managed to communicate as equals. The mixture of the group was well chosen and it was a great pleasure to meet a lot of prosecutors from the surrounding countries. After the opening statements by the DG I had the opportunity to introduce just culture in the Dutch approach. Starting with the broad outlines of the Dutch criminal law and the possibilities of dropping a case and the principle of impediency, an overview on just culture was presented.

The great value of this workshop is that a possibility was given by the organisers to interact with the other participants and to learn from other systems and proven experiences which worked out fine. During the workshop there was enough possibility to discuss certain topics and to meet each other in a more informal way.

To my opinion this very well organised workshop in Ohrid, Macedonia, was a great succes. A special big thanks from my side to Katerina Gramosli. She did a great job, was a great host and above all is a very nice person to work with.

Fred Bijlsma
Senior Prosecutor
The Netherlands
Nationwide Prosecutor for aviation

The Ohrid WS on Just Culture is another one in a series started last year. However, given the participation and the organisation, the bar has been set very high for any such future workshop. Everything seemed to fall in place perfectly well from an organisational point of view, which then enabled the participants to focus on the issue at stake, which was the dialogue between the representatives of the judiciary (i.e. prosecutors) and aviation safety experts. With a participation from four countries and the presence of so many different prosecutors in the room, the scene was set for an excellent debate.

Furthermore, the beautiful setting of lake Ohrid, the opportunity to stay close to each other for the two days, the warm welcome of the organisers and the flawless logistics engaged prompted the participants to reach out to each other, to open dialogue, to discuss in informal ways and share ideas, over and above the subject at stake and the mandate each had, thus tying up a good rapport. This allowed all to reach a consensus in the end and conclude that we have a common goal, that we can work together.

A special word must go to the main artisan of this event, Mr Dejan Mojsoski, who initiated it earlier in the year and relentlessly followed it to its fruition, showing the commitment of the host CAA y his very presence at the opening of the workshop. However, all this would not have been possible without the tireless contribution of Ms Katerina Gramosli, who spared no effort before and during the workshop to ensure a perfect organisation and showed to be a most wonderful host.
Thank you all. This is a tough act to follow but we’ll make sure to do it.

Radu Cioponea
Workshop Chair
EUROCONTROL Just Culture Programme Lead
Senior Safety Expert