Strengthening the Quality and Efficiency of Justice in Kosovo* (KoSEJ III)

January 2023 – December 2026

Strengthening the Quality and Efficiency of Justice in Kosovo* (KoSEJ III)

The project is co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe, and is implemented by the Council of Europe.

The project is part of the European Union/Council of Europe joint programme 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.

Context of the project

The project KOSEJ III builds upon the progress achieved under KoSEJ I (July 2016 - May 2019) and KoSEJ II (May 2019 -December 2022) and aims at further improving the quality and efficiency of justice in accordance with the tools developed by CEPEJ and in connection with the Strategy on Rule of Law Sector 2021-2026 and the Action Plan (RoLS) adopted by Kosovo in August 2021.

Project’s objectives

One of the main objectives of the project is to successfully foster the implementation of the RoLs by sustaining and expanding CEPEJ tools and methodologies notably on judicial time management, digitalisation of justice and e-filling, alternative dispute resolution (ADR), judicial map, organisation and accessibility of court premises, etc. At central level, the action will support policy making bodies and authorities in charge of the administration of justice: Ministry of Justice, Kosovo Justice Academy, Kosovo Judicial Council, Kosovo Prosecutorial Council.

Courts and prosecution services will also be more efficient using active case management, improved working methods with lawyers and new information technologies. Specific needs of justice professionals and court users will be addressed, based on strengthened communication between courts and their users and access to courts. Additionally, and in coordination with the “Dashboard Western Balkan” project, the collection, processing, and analysis of data on the functioning of the judicial system and judicial statistics will be improved.

Main activities

Support to the authorities responsible for the administration of justice to monitor the implementation of the Rule of Law Strategy based on accurate and automatically generated judicial statistics.
Capacity building activities on timeframes of judicial proceedings.
Court coaching activities to increase consultation between courts, parties and other actors and to detect delays.
Capacity building activities to authorities to better distributed human resources with an assessment of the complexity of cases, based on CEPEJ methodology.
Support to courts to collect users’ feedback to enable courts to undertake measures to improve court organisation, court services and court premises.
Training on CEPEJ cyberjustice and mediation tools to justice professionals.
Technical assistance to enable electronic communication between courts and parties, starting with electronic notifications.

Project beneficiaries and stakeholders

Ministry of Justice; Kosovo Justice Academy; Kosovo Judicial Council (KJC); Kosovo Prosecutorial Council (KPC) and prosecution offices; Courts; Kosovo Bar Association (KBA); Kosovo Chamber of Mediators.

* 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".

Contacts

Office of the Council of Europe in Pristina (Kosovo)

Stéphanie Lefeuvre
Project manager

Njomza Carkaxhiu
Project assistant

Translations of CEPEJ documents

Mediation Development Toolkit (in Albanian)
Mediation awareness programme for judges (in Albanian)
CEPEJ glossary (in Albanian / in Serbian)
Cyberjustice Guidelines and Toolkit, together with the Videoconferencing Guidelines (in Albanian)
E-filing Guidelines (in Albanian)
Councils for Judiciary in EU Countries

News

Back Presentation of some CEPEJ Data in the Context of Ongoing Justice Reforms in Kosovo*

Ervilda SMAJLAJ

Modified 6 Months ago.

Presentation of some CEPEJ Data in the Context of Ongoing Justice Reforms in Kosovo*

A presentation of the 2024 CEPEJ data on the efficiency of the judicial system was organised on 4 November 2025 in Pristina. The event brought together representatives from the Ministry of Justice, the Kosovo Judicial and Prosecutorial Councils, the Chamber of Mediators, the Justice Academy, the Anti-Corruption Agency, NGOs, international partners, Court Presidents, prosecutors, and the EU Office in Kosovo. Discussions focused on how CEPEJ data can inform ongoing justice reforms and strengthen evidence-based policymaking. Participants noted that they are already implementing several CEPEJ recommendations to address case backlogs, including greater use of ICT tools, more efficient preparatory proceedings, and new procedural provisions to speed up repetitive and similar civil claims. These efforts align with the 2025–2026 Action Plan of Kosovo’s Rule of Law Strategy and contribute to a more efficient justice system. The event also underscored the collective nature of this data collection process, with all justice institutions working together.

This activity was organised jointly by the KoSEJ III action “Strengthening the Quality and Efficiency of Justice in Kosovo”, and the Dashboard Western Balkans action ‘Towards a better evaluation of the results of judicial reforms in the Western Balkans’, which are part of the joint programme entitled "Horizontal Facility of the Western Balkans and Turkey III", 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.

Pristina, Kosovo* 4 November 2025