Who We Are
About us
The AIRE Centre (Advice on Individual Rights in Europe) is a specialist non-governmental organisation established in 1993 that promotes the implementation of European and international law. To find out more about work of the Centre please visit www.airecentre.org
For twenty five years, the AIRE Centre has built a strong reputation for expertise in the Western Balkans where it has been conducting a series of long-term rule of law programmes in partnership with domestic institutions and courts. The AIRE Centre’s Western Balkans Rule of Law Programme (AIRE Centre WB Programme) now works in close cooperation with ministries of justice, judicial training institutes, courts, and prosecutors to lead, support and assist long term rule of law reform and anti-corruption projects. The AIRE Centre WB Programme also cooperates with the NGO sector across the region to help foster legal reform and respect for fundamental rights. The Programme works to promote and facilitate the proper implementation of international legal and human rights instruments, assist the process of European integration by strengthening the rule of law, and encourage cooperation amongst judges and legal professionals across the region.
Mission and Vision
We bring lasting reform to the law and practice of the countries in the region. Our work leads to improvements in the rights of citizens; underpins political stability; helps combat organised crime and corruption; and it enhances the conditions for economic prosperity.
We want the region to reaches internationally recognised standards of rule of law and justice and to demonstrably improve the rights of all citizens.
History
The AIRE Centre has been working to promote the rule of law, human rights and democratic values in the Western Balkans since 1999. Our initial activities were launched in Serbia and in Montenegro in 1999 and expanded in the mid 2000’s to Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, North Macedonia and Kosovo. Over the past two decades, the organisation has built a reputation for making a positive impact and demonstrating a track record of success.
The AIRE Centre is known for its political impartiality and its collaborative approach to working with practitioners. This has allowed the organisation to secure cooperation and learning across jurisdictions and the region, leading to measurable improvements in judicial processes and legislative instruments.
The AIRE Centre prides itself on working to high standards and delivering both high-quality and pragmatic materials. The organisation has always aimed to identify and meet the needs of the communities it serves. Our work on asylum and on the protection of human rights during the COVID-19 pandemic are two key examples of this.
For more information about the AIRE Centre’s recent work, please visit: What We Do.
Our team
The team is driven by a set of values, which are:
- Excellence in all we do, delivering to high standards, only taking work where we can deliver to those standards, improving our own effectiveness so we can more smoothly deliver to those standards.
- Trust and support, with the team feeling empowered to deliver and to take initiative, learning from mistakes in a positive way.
- Accountability for delivering to high standards, always seeking to ensure substantive delivery and real-world impact, facing up to challenges honestly.
- Openness, always seeking to reach out to colleagues and partner organisations to develop and share knowledge collaboratively.
![Biljana_Braithwaite](https://airewb.org/wp-content/uploads/TIM/Biljana_Braithwaite.jpg)
Biljana Braithwaite
Western Balkans Programme Director
Biljana leads the AIRE Centre’s Western Balkans Rule of Law Programme. She has over twenty years’ experience developing, funding and delivering more than fifty rule of law projects, ranging from strengthening national judiciaries and other forms of technical assistance, human rights training, legislative reform, and the fight against corruption, often in partnership with local civil society. A lawyer by training with degrees from Belgrade University and Lund University’s Raoul Wallenberg Institute, Biljana began her career at the Belgrade Centre for Human Rights and has been associated with the AIRE Centre since 1998. She founded and co-edits the professional legal bulletin, Human Rights in Europe, now over 150 editions. She has also co-edited a series of guides for judges, decision makers and practitioners in South East Europe on freedom of expression, international child protection, and European asylum law. She is a member of the boards of the AIRE Centre USA and International Bridges to Justice. She is a founding partner Sustineri Partners, a consultancy working with companies and other organisations to put sustainability at the heart of their business.
Project Managers
![Sabina_Djapo](https://airewb.org/wp-content/uploads/TIM/Sabina_Djapo-scaled.jpg)
Sabina Đapo
Programme Manager
Western Balkans Rule of Law Programme
![Nevena_Kostic](https://airewb.org/wp-content/uploads/TIM/Nevena_Kostic.jpg)
Senior Legal Adviser
Western Balkans Rule of Law Programme
![Dina_Popovic](https://airewb.org/wp-content/uploads/TIM/Dina_Popovic-scaled.jpg)
Project Manager, Montenegro Rule of Law Project
Western Balkans Rule of Law Programme
![Martina_Raguz](https://airewb.org/wp-content/uploads/TIM/Martina_Raguz.jpg)
Project Manager, BiH Rule of Law Project
Western Balkans Rule of Law Programme
Legal experts
![Slika](https://airewb.org/wp-content/uploads/TIM/Slika.webp)
Western Balkans Rule of Law Programme
![Catharina_Harby](https://airewb.org/wp-content/uploads/TIM/Catharina_Harby.jpg)
Western Balkans Rule of Law Programme
![Vanja_Radevic](https://airewb.org/wp-content/uploads/TIM/Vanja_Radevic.jpg)
Western Balkans Rule of Law Programme
Press and communications
![Amina_Hujdur](https://airewb.org/wp-content/uploads/TIM/Amina_Hujdur.jpg)
Western Balkans Rule of Law Programme
Office management and project support
![Azra_Becirovic](https://airewb.org/wp-content/uploads/TIM/Azra_Becirovic.jpg)
Western Balkans Rule of Law Programme
![Minja_Trnka](https://airewb.org/wp-content/uploads/TIM/Minja_Trnka.jpg)
Western Balkans Rule of Law Programme
![Andrew_Jackson](https://airewb.org/wp-content/uploads/TIM/Andrew_Jackson.jpg)
Western Balkans Rule of Law Programme
Associates
![Elma_Veledar_Arifagic](https://airewb.org/wp-content/uploads/TIM/Elma_Veledar_Arifagic.jpg)
Western Balkans Rule of Law Programme
![Vesna_Mijic](https://airewb.org/wp-content/uploads/TIM/Vesna_Mijic.jpg)
Western Balkans Rule of Law Programme
![Slika](https://airewb.org/wp-content/uploads/TIM/Slika.webp)
Western Balkans Rule of Law Programme
![Slika](https://airewb.org/wp-content/uploads/TIM/Slika.webp)
Western Balkans Rule of Law Programme
![Sabina_Djapo](https://airewb.org/wp-content/uploads/TIM/Sabina_Djapo-scaled.jpg)
Programme Manager
Western Balkans Rule of Law Programme
![Nevena_Kostic](https://airewb.org/wp-content/uploads/TIM/Nevena_Kostic.jpg)
Senior Legal Adviser
Western Balkans Rule of Law Programme
![Dina_Popovic](https://airewb.org/wp-content/uploads/TIM/Dina_Popovic-scaled.jpg)
Project Manager, Montenegro Rule of Law Project
Western Balkans Rule of Law Programme
![Martina_Raguz](https://airewb.org/wp-content/uploads/TIM/Martina_Raguz.jpg)
Project Manager, BiH Rule of Law Project
Western Balkans Rule of Law Programme
![Slika](https://airewb.org/wp-content/uploads/TIM/Slika.webp)
Western Balkans Rule of Law Programme
![Catharina_Harby](https://airewb.org/wp-content/uploads/TIM/Catharina_Harby.jpg)
Western Balkans Rule of Law Programme
![Vanja_Radevic](https://airewb.org/wp-content/uploads/TIM/Vanja_Radevic.jpg)
Western Balkans Rule of Law Programme
![Amina_Hujdur](https://airewb.org/wp-content/uploads/TIM/Amina_Hujdur.jpg)
Western Balkans Rule of Law Programme
![Azra_Becirovic](https://airewb.org/wp-content/uploads/TIM/Azra_Becirovic.jpg)
Western Balkans Rule of Law Programme
![Minja_Trnka](https://airewb.org/wp-content/uploads/TIM/Minja_Trnka.jpg)
Western Balkans Rule of Law Programme
![Andrew_Jackson](https://airewb.org/wp-content/uploads/TIM/Andrew_Jackson.jpg)
Western Balkans Rule of Law Programme
![Slika](https://airewb.org/wp-content/uploads/TIM/Slika.webp)
Western Balkans Rule of Law Programme
![Vesna_Mijic](https://airewb.org/wp-content/uploads/TIM/Vesna_Mijic.jpg)
Western Balkans Rule of Law Programme
Vesna Mijić started her collaboration with AIRE Center in 2016 as the contact person between the Office of the President of the Constitutional Court and AIRE Centre. She works on AIRE Center projects related to increasing judicial capacity, harmonizing domestic judicial practice and harmonizing practice with European standards, strengthening judicial response to serious and organized crime and impunity in BiH. Vesna joined the AIRE Center team as an associate in 2023 on the Gender project, simultaneously continuing work on previous projects. He is the key person in communication with the courts and prosecutor’s offices of Bosnia and Herzegovina and organizational matters related to all aspects of conferences, trainings, seminars.
![Elma_Veledar_Arifagic](https://airewb.org/wp-content/uploads/TIM/Elma_Veledar_Arifagic.jpg)
Western Balkans Rule of Law Programme
![Slika](https://airewb.org/wp-content/uploads/TIM/Slika.webp)
Western Balkans Rule of Law Programme