Cliff Buchan
News EditorWhen David Doyscher was 18 and fresh out of high school in southwestern Minnesota, it would have been easy to move on to a state college in nearby Mankato or Marshall.
Not one to make the easy choice, Doyscher selected a four-year college in Maryville, TN where he earned a degree in history.
It was 1957 when Doyscher made a major life choice. Now 64 and a 10th Judicial District Court Judge benched in Stillwater, Doyscher is on the verge of making another major life move.
On Feb. 1, Doyscher, a Forest Lake resident, will depart for Kosovo where he will work as a United Nations judge. Kosovo is a province of Serbia and falls within the core of the former Yugoslavia.
He has been granted a one-year leave of absence from the district court bench. Doyscherís initial assignment for the U.N. post is six-months but it can be extended for a year.
Another challenge
Taking on different challenges in life is nothing new for this son of a livestock trucker from Jackson. Going to Bosnia to work as a judge is just one more, Doyscher said last week.
As a young man, Doyscherís move to a college in Tennessee was just a start. After college, he spent a three-year tour in the Army from 1961-1964 and was stationed in Germany for more than two years.
Before entering law school in 1967, he worked three years as an insurance adjuster, including two years of life and work in Los Angeles. Doyscher earned his law degree from the University of Minnesota in 1971 and moved his practice to Forest Lake in 1977 when he joined the Jergens-Hebert law firm.
He was a partner in the firm until 1986 when he accepted an appointment to the district court bench. He is now in his 18th year of service as a judge.
In taking a leave that could last a full year, Doyscher said he is accepting an opportunity to do some good in the world while recharging his battery in a new and different legal setting.
A big move
Doyscher concedes that making this move is one that fills him with some uncertainty.
ìIíve got a lot to learn as I go,î the judge said.
His first destination in Kosovo is Pristina, a city of 400,000 and the capital of the province. From Pristina, Doyscher will be assigned work in one of five smaller cities in Kosovo.
Under the United Nations appointment, Doyscher will work under a continental system of law somewhat akin to the French system, he says. He will be one of three judges on a panel that will try cases. Under the Kosovo system, judges perform investigative functions and examine witnesses that come before the court for a ruling by the panel of judges, he said.
ìIn America we leave that to the attorneys,î Doyscher said.
As a U.N. judge, Doyscher will be one of two international judges working on the panel with one local judge. Doyscher says he will hear cases that could include war crimes to murders.
ìI'll be on a panel with a judge from some other nation and a judge from Kosovo,î Doyscher said.
As a foreigner in a European land still ripe for war, Doyscher says his concerns are heightened but he is approaching the mission with an open mind.
ìI donít like to live my life in fear, but I have some concerns,î he said.
The former communist Baltic region of Yugoslavia is still filled with unrest and Kosovo is no different, he says. The Kosovo Liberation Army continues to exist with a goal of an independent Kosovo, a province that is predominantly Albanian in ethnic makeup, Doyscher says.
The organized crime rings that exist in the province add to the dynamics as the U.N. attempts to establish a legal system within Kosovo, Doyscher said.
ìThere are things like that that are happening,î he said.
While the uncertainty that awaits him fuels some of the trepidation, so does leaving home. His wife Gena will be able to make some visits to Kosovo but there will be separation from his family that includes two grown daughters, Hilary and Karen.
In taking the U.N. position, he is confident in his replacement here. Retired Washington County Judge Kenneth Mass has agreed to fill his post. ìThere wonít be any stress on the citizenship here,î he said.
In taking the leave he gives up his salary and benefits here but will be compensated by the United Nations.
A chance to help
At 64 and in good health, Doyscher says he concluded the time was right to take the assignment if he was serious in his goal of trying to do some good in the world.
He believes the assignment will refresh him as a judge and assist him in his work in Minnesota when he returns. But Doyscher says he truly wants to help make a difference in a part of the world crying out for a legal system that works.
Since the war of 1999, he says the U.N. has continued to plug along with reform steps. And no one is certain how long it will take the U.N. to achieve its goals and bring a lasting peace to the Baltic States/
ìI am dedicated to the rule of law,î Doyscher said. ìWe (the United States) have some duty (in the Balkans), other than to send in troops.î
Establishing an independent judiciary has to be a priority if the U.N. is successful in bringing a true democracy to the region. Helping the people of Kosovo accept the same rule of law is a task that will need the help of many, he adds.
ìThis is just a small piece of what someone can do,î he said of his efforts to come.
As a U.N. judge, Doyscher will be the seventh Minnesota judge to join the mission. Four are now home but one other local man, Linn Slattengren of Shafer, a retired district court judge from the 10th District, began his assignment in Kosovo late last year.
Doyscher said he learned of the U.N. program through John Tunnheim, a federal district court judge and long-time friend, who has worked to help the U.N. program and encourages local judges to participate.
ìIt was his idea to send over state court judges,î Doyscher said of Tunnheim. While the U. N. was hesitant at first, the world agency is now a big booster of using state judges in Kosovo, Doyscher says.
As he draws closer to the mandatory retirement age of 70, Doyscher believes Kosovo will be a way to refreshen his look at the profession and do some good in an area of the world where change is needed.
At the center of what was once the Ottoman Empire, Doyscher says the mission is ripe with possibilities. ìThis is where East meets West,î he said. ìThatís a lot of the worldís problems today.î
Making a difference will also mean a lot, Doyscher said.
ìIt is a service to our country,î he says of his duty still to come in Kosovo.
ìI want to contribute and be productive,î he said. ìItís (Kosovo) and opportunity to do something different ó something very different.î
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