Council of Europe Office in Pristina

Every day, prosecutors across Kosovo* walk into their offices with one goal: to deliver equal justice. But for many years, something as basic as drafting a court procedural document —an indictment, a court submission, or a formal act — was slowing them down. Outdated templates, inconsistent formats and avoidable errors were creating unnecessary challenges. Not only for the prosecutors doing the work, but also for the citizens waiting for outcomes, such obstacles presented quite a bottleneck. Something had to change — and that change began with a decision to put practical needs first.

Through the action “Strengthening the Quality and Efficiency of Justice in Kosovo* a joint initiative of the EU and Council of Europe part of the Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye, we did exactly that. In March 2025, we brought together frontline prosecutors, IT specialists, and a CEPEJ expert — a Chief Prosecutor from Belgium — and we asked a simple question: what is actually needed to ensure data quality, consistency in document formatting and to ultimately increase the efficiency of prosecutorial work?

The answer shaped everything that followed. And to see what it produced, you need to look no further than the city of Prizren.

From Prizren, a Story of Real Change

Championed by the  Basic Prosecution Office in Prizren, this institution made sure that every single prosecutor was informed, involved, and ready to use new templates. By April 2026, the results were clear – the new courts’ tools provided with the support of EU and Council of Europe were working. The templates were being used, and justice was moving faster. As the Chief Prosecutor, Petrit Kryeziu, explains himself: "The templates have directly influenced the facilitation and acceleration of the drafting of procedural acts, the increase of accuracy, and the avoidance of errors. Their contribution to the unification of official documents is irreplaceable. The implementation is successful and has a direct positive impact on the daily work of prosecutors."  

Those words carry real weight — and they are now being echoed across all prosecution offices in Kosovo. The digital justice journey here has only just begun. After the successful launch of the pilot phase in the Basic Prosecution Office in Prizren, about 4366 developed templates have been used across all the seven prosecution offices in Kosovo, to serve to more the 186 prosecutors. This is what true collaboration looks like in practice —  prosecutors working faster, documents drafted more accurately, and justice institutions that speak with one coherent voice.

Kosovo's digital transformation in justice is not a future ambition. It is happening now.

Together we are shaping a justice system which will gain more trust from its citizens.