On 1 March 2022, the Ministry of Justice officially launched the assessment report on the functioning of the Kosovo justice system. This report, based on CEPEJ methodology, is the fourth one of its kind, and the second one prepared by the Ministry of Justice, which shows that the Ministry and the institutions involved in collecting the data have now taken ownership of this methodology and make it more systematic.
Ms Albulena Haxhiu, Minister of Justice, Mr Albert Zogaj, Chairman of the Judicial Council, Mr Veton Shabani, Deputy Chairman of the Prosecutorial Council, Mr Behar Ejupi, President of the Bar Association, Ms Anita Kalanderi, Director of the Free Legal Aid Agency discussed the main findings of the report. In particular, the report shows that there have been positive developments in terms of length of proceedings and efficiency, particularly in criminal cases in appeal proceedings, while difficulties remain in civil cases. Another interesting finding is that number of staff directly assisting judge has increased significantly in all Kosovo courts and this is expected to have a positive impact on judicial performance and reduce the length of proceedings. Speaking about report, Ms Albulena Haxhiu, Minister of Justice stated, “It should be noted that this methodology [..]aims to analyze the functioning of judicial systems and guide public justice policies and achieve the best knowledge of judicial timeframes and optimize management”. Participants pointed out the need for close cooperation between the justice institutions to analyse and improve judicial efficiency.
The meeting was greeted by Mr Frank Power, Head of the Council of Europe Office, Mr Nicola Scaramuzzo, Team leader in the European Union Office, and Ms Muriel Decot, Secretary to the CEPEJ, online from Strasbourg.
The report is available here:
https://md.rks-gov.net/desk/inc/media/519C72A1-FEBB-4179-A615-9D8F752C69C7.pdf (English)
https://md.rks-gov.net/desk/inc/media/D301D920-3C02-4324-9180-FDDE588D771A.pdf (Albanian)
https://md.rks-gov.net/desk/inc/media/01D0916F-3088-470D-A53B-126D54039788.pdf (Serbian)
This activity is organised by the KoSEJ II Action “Strengthening the Quality and Efficiency of Justice in Kosovo”, which is part of the joint programme entitled "Horizontal Facility of the Western Balkans and Turkey II", co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe.
* This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo Declaration of Independence