Our project consistently supports capacity building of the Jurisconsult, legal research unit of the Constitutional Court of Kosovo*, to effectively maintain its knowledge-creating and knowledge-sharing functions. A key added value is the opportunity for beneficiaries to directly learn from the best practices of the Jurisconsult Directorate of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). Inspired by the ECtHR Knowledge Sharing Platform (ECHR-KS), Jurisconsult of the Constitutional Court of Kosovo* already prepares its own caselaw guides and summaries, thematic factsheets and other research materials from its own practice.
In several consecutive actions, our project organised collaborative learning exercises that enabled peer-to-peer exchanges between the Jurisconsult and Legal Unit of the Constitutional Court of Kosovo* and their counterparts at the ECtHR. These included seminars in Pristina, online webinars, study visits, and placements with ECtHR in Strasbourg.
The latest activity focused on the introduction of standard citations in the Court’s decisions, with mentorship provided by the ECtHR Caselaw Coordinator and Standard Citation Unit. The standard citation tool helps to harmonise the use of general principles in judgments, reduce drafting time, improve translation consistency, and ensure accuracy of legal references, while avoiding technical errors when importing texts from the HUDOC database.
Two ECtHR experts presented substantive, procedural and technical aspects of standard citations prepared by the Standard Citation Unit (SCU) of the Jurisconsult. They explained drafting process, documentation, compilation and update of standard citations under different articles of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). Specific attention was given to explaining the IT tools and features used for integrating text of standard citations in the templates of judgements.
The Jurisconsult of the Constitutional Court of Kosovo* introduced its electronic case management system and explained process of administration and filtering of referrals. Participants also exchanged ideas on technical solutions on how to integrate standard citations of general principles directly into the Constitutional Court’s decisions on individual human rights complaints.
After this fruitful exchange, the follow up collaboration between two courts will continue online in the upcoming months. By the end of the year, the standard citation tool is expected to be fully introduced and integrated with the Constitutional Court’s case management system and decision templates. This new feature will contribute to further strengthening the quality, efficiency, and consistency of its work.
*All references to Kosovo, whether to the territory, institutions or population shall be understood in full compliance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244 and without prejudice to the status of Kosovo.