The event was marking the phasing out of the GIZ Open Regional Fund for SEE – Legal Reform which has had a pivotal role in the creation, support and development of the network in the past 3 years.

The Conference ‘Achievements, Progress and Challenges for Higher Legal Education in South Eastern Europe’ was held in Skopje on 28th November 2014 at the occasion of the SEELS Dean’s Conference. The event was marking the phasing out of the GIZ Open Regional Fund for SEE – Legal Reform which has had a pivotal role in the creation, support and development of the network in the past 3 years. 

The Conference highlighted the creation, establishment, development and strategies for further development of SEELS in the past 3 years, presenting the activities that were undertaken and implemented in this period. 

Participating, beside the SEELS members, were the representatives from various embassies and international organizations which gave the opportunity to present the SEELS to the wider donor community. 

The participants were addressed by Dr. Adnan Jashari - Minister of Justice of the Republic of Macedonia, HE Mr. Hans Helge Sander – Vice-Ambassador of Federal Republic of Germany, Mr. James Macbeth Forbes - GIZ Country Director, Prof. Dr. Velimir Stojkovski - Rector of the University ‘Ss. Cyril and Methodius’ in Skopje and Prof. Dr. Hrvoje Sikiric - Dean of the Faculty of Law in Zagreb as Chair of the Management Board of SEELS. They stressed the importance of the creation of such network and the success of this type of regional collaboration.

In the working part of the conference, Prof. Dr. Goran Koevski  - Manager of the Centre for SEELS presented in detail the goals and the objectives of the Network, as well as its structure and organization. Dr. Veronika Efremova form the GIZ Open Regional Fund for SEE – Legal Reform spoke of the support provided by GIZ in the past years for the various activities of the Network. The conference was concluded with the presentation of Mr. Manuel Unten Kanashiro, CIM Integrated Expert, who as a fundraising coordinator presented the strategic goals and plans that are set for SEELS in 2015.