Our project organised a thematic round table “Enforcement of Judicial Decisions: Good Practices and Challenges in Practice”, with representatives from across the justice chain, including courts of all jurisdictions, prosecution offices, Bar Association, Office of Good Governance, civil society organisations, and Council of Europe experts.

Participants shared perspectives from the Constitutional Court, Supreme Court, State Prosecutor’s Office, Basic and Appellate Courts, Prosecution Offices, government institutions and civil society. They reviewed the main bottlenecks that hinder the effective enforcement of judgments, an essential component of the right to a fair trial under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

The discussion highlighted several persistent obstacles to the timely and effective execution of judicial decisions, including financial constraints and limited institutional resources, insufficient staffing within relevant institutions, and inconsistent implementation of the Law on Enforcement Procedures. They also pointed out limited interoperability of IT systems between the judiciary and government institutions, affecting follow-up and monitoring of enforcement as well as challenges in enforcing decisions across different courts and agencies, including cadastral and administrative bodies.

Special attention was given to administrative disputes, labour-related judgments including rulings on collective agreements in the public sector, and to several landmark cases of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) concerning state liability and compensation for pecuniary damage.

Participants also examined good practices from Kosovo*[1] and other Western Balkans, European Union (EU) and Council of Europe member states. Examples included specialised governmental units dedicated to monitoring the execution of judgments, mixed bodies such as the media-judicial councils in North Macedonia, and the use of digital tools to strengthen monitoring of enforcement procedures, as seen in Portugal and Türkiye.

There was broad agreement that ongoing dialogue and cooperation across the judiciary, executive and legislative branches, together with bailiffs and civil society, are crucial to addressing the complex challenges surrounding enforcement of judicial decisions. Participants stressed that platforms such as this round table are invaluable and should be institutionalised as regular practice. The project will prepare a thematic paper summarising the main conclusions and recommendations from the event, which will be shared with all relevant stakeholders.