SERVAAS FEIERTAG CONSULTANCY

My name is Servaas Feiertag and I work for more than 20 years on the promotion of the rule of law, good governance, anti-corruption and integrity. Occasionally, I also work on strategic communications, organisational development and the definition of Virtual Reality applications facilitating integrity training. With this website I want to present myself for new assignments and cooperation with other experts.

ROLES AND THEMATIC AREAS

My work includes several different roles. Sometimes I am hired as a senior expert for my technical knowledge and skills, or as a researcher to do applied research, and sometimes as a trainer or  team leader of a project. I feel happy in all these different roles and like the diversity of my work. It is also important to learn new skills and to regularly refresh  and update one’s existing skills. In 2023 -2024 I completed two courses on didactics and systemic training (10 days), a journalistic writing course (5 days), an introductory training on teamcoaching (5 days), training on change management (2 days) and in October 2024 I completed a course on Agile Strategy Development (2 days).

GEOGRAPHY

My work has taken me to more than 30 countries in South East Asia, Sub Sahara Africa, the MENA region, Western and Central Europe and the Balkans. Recently I have worked on a small project for The Hague Academy for Local Governance training civil servants from Armenia, Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia on integrity . It is my aim to continue to work on such projects and to expand my work portfolio in the Balkans where I am very interested in opportunities in the area of rule of law, anti corruption & integrity and good governance. At the same time I look forward to continue working in Sub Sahara Africa, the MENA region and Asia, where I will be working on judicial accountability and integrity in the coming years.

ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND

After studying law in the Netherlands and France I obtained my law degree (LL.M), 10 years later followed by a Masters in Public Administration. My working career started in the 90’s when I cofounded the internet company @msterdam, later followed with senior functions in several multi-national companies. For more than 20 years, I have been working on the promotion of the rule of law; through justice & judicial reform, enhancing good governance, anti-corruption & integrity and access to justice. At Transparency International it was great to do anti-corruption programmatic work and to practice law as their first Chief Legal Counsel and to set up and manage the legal affairs unit.  In 2014 I founded Servaas Feiertag Consultancy.

NEWS

Very excited to share that I will be starting to give an Introductory course on Corruption and Integrity as a freelance lecturer at the Volkshochschule in Berlin Kreuzberg Friedrichshain. The Volkshochschule is like a community college that offers a wide range of courses for many different target audiences. The course will be highly interactive and I look forward to have interctive sessions with many different people on corruption and integrity.

In 2023 the article on the legal system in North Macedonia was published as part of Globalex of the New York University. In 2024 a number of legal reforms were announced and North Macedonia was included in the EU Rule of Report. It is expected to be published in January february 2025 and will among other developments, include 

Very happy to share that a new project with BIRD where I assist GIZ  with their work in the ECOWAS region. A first activity has been completed in the period October -December 2024. The project will continue in 2025 and 2026.

In September-October 2024 I had the pleasure to prepare and facilitate with my colleague Mr Casey Kelso the strategy reflection workshop for the programme Making Justice Work of the Global Initiative Against Impunity (GIAI).

The GIAI is composed of 9 international NGOs, including the International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH) and two associate partners that jointly implement the Making Justice Work programme.

It was a successful workshop with strong participation and concete outcomes and results.

An exciting new EU funded project has started in Rwanda that will work on the Justice Accountability Programme Rwanda to deliver thematic support (specialised training, studies, reports) based on the needs expressed by the government institutions on the result areas covered by the programme; including but not limited to rule of law, access to justice, timely and quality justice and human rights. My role is to contribute as a part time key expert on legal reforms.

In May-June 2024 I concluded a small project with the Hague Academy for Local Governance to assist in the training of civil servants from Armenia, Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova as part of the summer school Integrity Policy in the Civil Service.

It was very inspiring to listen to the motivated and well prepared participants and discuss their ideas on the way forward on promoting integrity in their respective countries.

It is my pleasure to share the Globalex article “Introducing the Legal System of North Macedonia”, which I developed over the course of 2023 and which was published in the November – December 2023 Globalex issue, a publication of the New York University School of Law.

You will learn about the great Eastern Roman Emperor Justinianus I (483-565) who has become famous for his administrative reorganisation of the imperial government, but even more for the codification of Roman laws known as the Codex Justinianus. However, many people don’t know that he was very likely born near to the location of modern Skopje, capital of North Macedonia.

Statue of Emperor Justinianus I in Skopje, North Macedonia

However, the emphasis of the article is on the constitutional system, including the organisation of state authority. It also pays attention to other topics such as the rule of law, the scores on the TI corruption index over 2012 to 2022 and provides a list of open access sources. The article is not part of any international project and neither financed by any institutional donor, but evolved from my personal interest to learn more about the legal system in North Macedonia and was thus developed for Globalex. I did benefit from my experience over the last few years in North Macedonia and aim to work on Rule of Law projects in the future.

The article is meant to provide an introduction to the legal system of North Macedonia and may be useful for people that aim to research or work on the rule of law in North Macedonia or are otherwise interested in its legal system. Several changes are expected in 2024 and it is likely that an updated version will be developed in 2024.

You can reach me through servaas@servaasfeiertag.com, if you have any questions or remarks that you want to share.

A new article for Globalex is in development, which will a guide to legal research in North Macedonia. It will include a description of the legal system and the main institutions. After review it will be published on the Globalex website.

Between May – September 2023 I developed the Rule of Law Guidelines for the EC that will strengthen the capacity of EU Delegations on the Rule of Law concepts and provides guidance on how to integrate it in their country and regional development programmes

A new project has started with BiRD in which I will  evaluate a project and lead on the development of an impact model on constitutional assistance that will serve to strengthen the understanding of main themes and to inform future decisions on project and programme funding in this area.

Very inspiring mission in Rwanda, Huyé in October 2022 with the Center for Legal Aid and Medication of the University of Rwanda: You can find more information here on twitter.

This summer was full of activities. I trained EU Delegations on the Rule of Law and themes such as justice reform, accountability and transparency. This was quickly followed by the development of EU Rule of Law Guidelines that will guide EU Delegations about the main elements and goals of thick Rule of Law concepts and how to apply these concretely in the partnercountries.

I’ve gotten to know Servaas as a very professional and experienced trainer/moderator, who is very committed to deliver good results. Preparations of the trainings on good governance were always developed with care and he was always flexible and able to adapt the approach or the content of the training, if participants appeared to have additional needs or interests.
Mr. Alberto CostaOECD Tunisia
Servaas reported to me as principal legal counsel at the international secretariat of Transparency International. He set up the legal unit and demonstrated strong technical analytical and management skills together with the ability to effectively interact with TI staff at the secretariat and the movement.
Mr. Miklos MarschallDeputy Managing Director International Secretariat of Transparency International
Servaas assisted us as a technical expert in the area of good governance and rule of law in the GIZ GGC programme in Yemen between 2017-2020. He is a true professional and a committed team player, who can work in a wide range of areas and topics in various capacities; as a researcher, senior expert, trainer and management consultant. He has a depth and range of knowledge regarding international development issues, which is hard to match. His work is always of high quality and he is very pleasant to work with. Servaas adds extremely high value to any project that he is involved with and is one of the highest-calibre consultants with whom I have ever worked.
Ms. Arwa HassanGIZ Programme Director Yemen Good Governance Cluster
I have gotten to know Servaas through projects in Tunisa and North Macedonia and we have worked very well together. He can do technical as well as researcher work. In addition he is reliable as senior expert and Team leader. He is an allround professional that I trust to deliver what he has promised.
Ms. Anne SpanheimSenior project manager CILC
I'm glad to recommend Mr Servaas Feiertag who occupied the function of Senior Expert/Team Leader/Trainer on programmes working on Rule of Law, Access to Justice, Legal Empowerment and Corruption in Sub Sahara Africa and the Middle East at government and/or grassroots level at Transparency International. He is very honourable, at the same time sociable and directive to his colleagues and collaborators. He brings a lot of professionalism in his work. I am convinced that Mr Servaas Feiertag possesses the skills necessity in his fields of expertise in particular in the driving of the teams, the programs on the law and the justice in the international environment
Ms. Holy RazafinrandretsaAdvocacy and Communication officer TI Madagascar
Working closely together with Servaas as partner during the 'early days of the Internet' at the startup of our Internet company was a wonderful experience and today we work on VR. Servaas is a real visionary, creative and sharp. Oh yes and he is witty :).
Mr. Bart OveresCofounder Moving Target and cofounder @msterdam
I enjoyed working with Servaas, who was not only a project leader but a coach and mentor to colleagues and partners he worked with. He has done tremendous work at CILC supporting capacity building of law faculties, training and legal institutions. His work is of high quality and very relevant for the institutions we work with. Servaas adapts easily to the environment he works in and understands the local context well. He loves being among friends and colleagues and enjoys to work with people.
Ms. Adeline TibakweitiraSenior Project Manager CILC
"We have been working closely with Servaas on two evaluation projects and got to appreciate his high level of professionalism and expertise and his always constructive and positive attitude. We are already looking forward to future collaborations with him."
Ms. Hanna StadlerSenior Project Manager BiRD GmbH
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