Category: Uncategorized

The eighth meeting of the Steering Committee of the European Union/Kosovo Justice Sector Programme – EUKOJUST, was held on Thursday, November 3, 2022.

The meeting was chaired by Mr. Jetish Maloku – Chair of the Kosovo Prosecutorial Council, and attended by the Deputy Minister of Justice, Mr. Blerim Sallahu, President of the Supreme Court Mr. Enver Peci, acting Chief State Prosecutor Mr. Besim Kelmendi, Director of the Kosovo Justice Academy, Mr. Enver Fejzullahu, Director of the Legal Office of the Prime Minister’s Office, Mr. Mentor Borovci as well as EUKOJUST Project Director from IRZ Mrs. Teresa Thalhammer as well as Mr. Nicola Scaramuzzo from the EU Office in Kosovo.

The representatives of the main justice institutions in Kosovo discussed in this meeting the activities and achievements of the Project which were presented through the quarterly report covering the period July-September 2022, presenting their views on the actions to be taken in the future. Following the discussions, the voting members of the Steering Committee agreed on the date of the next Steering Committee meeting and its chairmanship.

Building professional capacities of judges and prosecutors including professionals associates on “Charging and sentencing of Domestic Violence cases” – practical implementation of the international standards on treating domestic violence cases including the national legal framework for protection from domestic violence – was the focus of a one-day training held under the Kosovo Justice Academy umbrella.

Several judges, prosecutors, and professional associates attended the training, delivered by the EUKOJUST Long Term Expert on Public Legal Education/Domestic Violence and Marginalized Groups Bardhë Krasniqi.

The training “Charging and sentencing of Domestic Violence cases” including its material is tailored and aimed at:

• Improving prosecutorial and judicial response to domestic violence cases,
• Understanding the seriousness and complexity of domestic violence cases to contribute and increase consistency in the treatment of domestic violence cases and expand their practice-based resources.
• Safeguard and achieve the charging and sentencing of domestic violence cases proportionate to the gravity of the crime in compliance with international and national legal standards.

The participants highly appreciated this training and benefited both from the professional point of view and from the good experience of the trainer.

The training was delivered under the EUKOJUST project’s specific objective of strengthening access to justice for all citizens in Kosovo, particularly in the field of domestic violence and disadvantaged or marginalized groups – and is in compliance with both the Rule of Law Strategy and Strategy on Protection from Domestic Violence and Violence against Women and their Action plans.

Raising awareness among the members of the judiciary and staff of the Free Legal Aid Agency on the rights of persons with disabilities in Kosovo was the subject of four days of training, from 24 October to 27 October, delivered by the EUKOJUST Short Term Expert, Ina Xhepa.

The Expert provided participants with the necessary knowledge on key international standards on the rights of persons with disabilities in the framework of the United Nations, European Union, and Council of Europe, as well as discussing the relevant Kosovo legal framework.

The goal of the four days training was to increase the capacities of justice professionals to comply with the standards on the rights of persons with disabilities established by the jurisprudence of the European Court on Human Rights (ECtHR) and the Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities (CRPD).

Building professional capacities of the Ministry of Justice’s responsible staff on “Effective Communication and Visibility”, was a focus of one-day training held on 7 October 2022 in Pristina. 12 persons involving civil servants and Cabinet staff have been trained in general and specifically to effectively communicate and provide visibility to the implementation of the National Strategy for Protection against Domestic Violence and Violence Against Women including the communication part of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence campaign. The training was delivered by the EUKOJUST Medium-Term Expert on Communication and Visibility, Berat Kryeziu, with the technical support of the Long-Term Expert on Public Legal Education/Domestic Violence and Marginalized Groups, Bardhë Krasniqi.

The participants highly appreciated this training and benefited both from the professional point of view and from the good experience of the experts.

The training was delivered under the EUKOJUST project’s specific objective of strengthening access to justice for all citizens in Kosovo, particularly providing technical and substantial support to the Ministry of Justice and the National Coordinator against Domestic Violence in communicating results on the implementation of the National Strategy for Protection against Domestic Violence and Violence Against Women 2022-2026 and Action Plan 2022-2024.

The initiative of improving the status of civil servants in the judicial system, which started a year ago, got a new and important momentum this week. Representatives of justice, trade unions and relevant associations, assisted by EUKOJUST experts, addressed the remaining issues during a two-day workshop held in Peja.

The status of the civil servants in the judiciary is a critical element of judicial independence and requires a clear, stable, predictable and legal basis. In this sense, the Constitutional Court of Kosovo decided almost two years ago that the support staff in the judiciary have to have their status regulated independently from the general civil servants in the public administration.

EUKOJUST is therefore supporting the Ministry of Justice, the Kosovo Judicial Council and the Kosovo Prosecutorial Council to find common ground for a legal and legislative solution. Extensive negotiations and discussions took place with all stakeholders involved, and research and documentation were performed by all institutions involved in the process.

After an initial workshop in March 2022, EUKOJUST provided during this workshop a platform for all parties involved in the process to discuss the concept document and to discuss and debate all options identified thoroughly. The goal was for all parties to agree on the way forward, that all concerns and questions are addressed and that all institutions, trade unions, and professional associations are lined up behind a single approach that can be advanced into a draft law for the status of civil servants in the Kosovo judiciary.

Building professional capacities of lawyers on the international and national legal framework for protection from domestic violence was the focus of a one-day training held in Gjilan. Almost 70 lawyers from the Gjilan region licensed by the Kosovo Bar Association (KBA) attended the training, delivered by the EUKOJUST Long Term Expert on Public Legal Education/Domestic Violence and Marginalized Groups Bardhë Krasniqi.

“The Role of the Lawyer in representing the victims of Domestic Violence,” training also aimed at building the soft skills of lawyers to understand the dynamics of domestic violence situations – as part of the continuous legal education program under the KBA umbrella.

The trainers discussed the need to apply human rights standards such as the Istanbul Convention, Convention on the Elimination of all forms of discrimination against women, European Convention on Human Rights and the use of the European Court of Human Rights case law in the Kosovo legal practice.

This training raised the standard of practice for lawyers who will deal with Domestic Violence cases and will equip lawyers practicing in all areas with the necessary tools to handle Domestic violence or to screen for domestic abuse and provide appropriate legal advice when domestic violence has been identified as an issue.

The participants highly appreciated this training and benefited both from the professional point of view and from the good experience of the trainers.

The training was delivered under the EUKOJUST project’s specific objective of strengthening access to justice for all citizens in Kosovo, particularly in the field of domestic violence and disadvantaged or marginalized groups.

Two intensive training days on access to justice for vulnerable groups were organized by EUKOJUST Access to Justice Expert, Alina Matache, which involved around 35 judges, prosecutors, and professional associates in criminal and civil matters.

The delivered training curriculum has been designed to provide guidance for justice professionals on how to improve access to justice for Roma, Ashkali, and Egyptians, people with disabilities, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex people and, as well to provide a tool for national training institutions responsible for the training of judges, prosecutors, and lawyers in implementing the initial and in-service curriculum. This guidance is based on existing international, regional, and national standards.

The training was organized in close cooperation with the Kosovo Justice Academy to ensure consistency with the training modules and include two judges’ trainers.

Experts involved in drafting and delivering the training were Edona Ahmetaj, Ina Xhepa, Fjolla Hoxha, and Marije Vuksani.

The support on drafting the Concept Document for realizing civil rights in Kosovo, including the right to fair trial within a reasonable time and effective legal remedies, provided by EUKOJUST is progressing. EUKOJUST Expert on Access to Justice, Alina Matache, in cooperation with the Ministry of Justice, European Integration Department, organized a two days’ workshop with a variety of stakeholders including judges, legal experts, civil servants and representative of the Ombudsperson.

The focus of the workshop was to discuss the first draft of the Concept Document, prepared by Ms. Bardha Maxhuni and Mr. Avni Puka. The Concept Document, an activity foreseen by Kosovo Rule of Law Strategy, outlined the main challenges in realizing the civil rights in Kosovo. Although these rights are guaranteed by the Constitution and the national legislation, Kosovo still suffers from a lack of effective legal remedies in criminal, civil and administrative matters. Several options on how to overcome this challenge were discussed and presented to the Working Group. Moreover, a presentation on the international best practices was also delivered by the EUKOJUST Legislative Framework Expert, Idlir Peci.

The Concept Document will integrate the comments of the Working Group members and it will be open for public consultation in due time.

In cooperation with Prime minister’s Legal Office, EUKOJUST organized on Tuesday, 13 September 2022, a workshop about the Constitutional Analysis on ‘Legal Cleaning’.

“Legal Cleaning” means the removal of any existing or persisting ambiguities with regard to the applicable law in Kosovo.

The relatively frequent and drastic changes of authority over the past decades in Kosovo have resulted in different sets of applicable legislation, in turn creating confusion and incoherent application of laws by courts and other public institutions.

The end result of this activity is a comprehensive constitutional analysis on the applicable legislation in force in Kosovo according to the Constitution of Kosovo and UNMIK Regulation 1999/24. The first draft of the analysis was discussed today with relevant stakeholders. All the today’s presented inputs will be reflected in the final version of the draft. The event also served as an awareness raising event, where the issues identified by the report will be discussed with relevant stakeholders, such as judges, legal advisors from the AoK and Constitutional Court and legal officers from the LO-OPM and the Ministry of Justice.

It should be noted that despite the fundamental change being created with the adoption and entry into force of the Constitution of Kosovo in June 2008 and its law-making provisions—including on the continuity of international agreements and applicable legislation—there has nonetheless been no subsequent legal act that would formally repeal or replace UNMIK Regulation No. 1999/24 on the Law Applicable in Kosovo.

After the adoption of Kosovo’s Constitution in 2008, an entirely new order was established, including the types of sources and hierarchy of norms. Among others, it contained a transitional provision, providing for the continued application of legislation that was applicable on the date of the entry into force of the Constitution to the extent this legislation is in conformity with the Constitution “until repealed, superseded or amended”.

In any event, although the Constitution does not provide any more for the promulgation of UNMIK Regulations as such, it obviously does not automatically repeal them or invalidate their continuity, at least not until they are repealed, superseded or amended by acts recognized in the Constitution.

EUKOJUST experts took note of the comments, suggestions and proposals for addressing the issues discussed during the Workshop and will reflect them into the final Constitutional Analysis on Applicable Law in Kosovo, which will be shared with all the relevant stakeholders.

A roundtable on norms and standards from EU Member States on Victims Support Services was organised on Wednesday, 31 August 2022, by EUKOJUST Access to Justice Expert Alina Matache as part of the activities related to strengthening access to justice for vulnerable people, together with 11 Victims’ Advocates.

A Comparative Analysis on Victims Support Services across Europe was presented by the EUKOJUST Expert on Strengthening the Victims Protection and Assistance Office (VPAO), Sandra Buzlieva at the roundtable.

The Analysis focused on the minimum standards on the rights, support and protection of victims of crime and the available support and legal assistance by the state and non-governmental organisations (NGOs).  Examples from several EU member states were provided such as Sweden, Finland, France, Italy, Croatia, and Slovakia.

The event was also attended by Victims Support Europe (VSE), an umbrella network of 40 national organisations that provide support to more than two million people affected by crime each year in 26 countries across Europe.

Deputy Director Aleksandra Ivankovic presented the activities of VSE and the best-case studies in establishing a national framework for Victim Support Services. Victims’ Advocates shared their concerns with regard to provision of services to victims in Kosovo and discussion on how to improve and strengthen the national system as to provide improved and tailored services to victims based on EU standards, ensued.

The 7^th Steering Committee meeting of the European Union / Kosovo Justice Sector Programme EUKOJUST, was held on Wednesday, July 27, 2022 in Pristina.

The meeting was chaired by the Head of the Legal Office of the Prime Minister’s Office Mr. Mentor Borovci, and it was attended by the Kosovo Minister of Justice, Ms. Albulena Haxhiu the Chair of the Kosovo Judicial Council, Mr. Albert Zogaj, Mr. Jetish Maloku – Chair of the Prosecutorial Council, Mr. Enver Peci – President of the Supreme Court, Mr. Besim Kelmendi – Acting Chief State Prosecutor, Director of the Kosovo Justice Academy Mr. Enver Fejzullahu, Director of the EUKOJUST Project from IRZ, Ms. Teresa Thalhammer and Mr. Nicola Scaramuzzo from the EU Office in Kosovo.

The representatives of the key judicial institutions in Kosovo have actively contributed to the discussion of the activities and achievements of the Project presented in the 6th quarterly report covering the period April – June 2022 and presented their views on the way forward. Following the discussion, the Steering Committee voting right members, agreed on the date of next Steering Committee meeting and its chair.

On 26.07.2022, the Workshop for coordinating the upcoming steps related to the Administrative Justice reform was organized with the support of EUKOJUST.

The Deputy Minister of Justice, Mr. Blerim Sallahu, the Chair of the Kosovo Judicial Council (KJC), Mr. Albert Zogaj, and the representative of the EU Office in Kosovo, Mr. Nicola Scaramuzzo, addressed the participants.

In an open discussion, the participants discussed in general the reform of the legal and institutional framework for administrative justice and the coordination of this initiative with the currently ongoing initiatives in interrelated fields.

The event of today is a continuation of coordinated efforts in the frame of the Statement of Commitment signed jointly by the Supreme Court, the Ministry of Justice and the Kosovo Judicial Council for reforms in three main areas, namely the Draft Civil Procedure Code, Administrative Justice Reform and restructuring of the Special Chamber of the Supreme Court on privatization related matters.

EUKOJUST continues to support Kosovo’s rule of law institutions in strengthening their capacities, policies and practices. Since 2021, EUKOJUST is supporting Ministry of Justice in finalizing the Report on ex-post evaluation of the Law on Bar.

On 21 July 2022, work continued by sharing this Report with representatives of Kosovo Bar Association, Ministry of Justice, Enforcement Chamber, in a roundtable which provided an ideal platform for sharing the report and receiving final round of input of those institutions.

Report on ex-post evaluation of the Law on Bar will be utilized to address the needs for further intervention at the policy or practical level.

The Kosovo Judicial Council (KJC) and EUKOJUST organized the certificate distribution ceremony for over 100 certified judicial translators, on Thursday, July 14, 2022.

EUKOJUST Team Leader, Volkmar Theobald, congratulated the KJC for organizing this first time ever competition, very much needed, for the certification of Kosovo translators, and expressed the willingness to support the Council in the future in improving the quality of translations, including official languages of non-majority communities.

“The correct use of the official languages in judicial and prosecutorial systems in Kosovo is of outmost importance to guarantee international fair trial standards and access to justice for all. The role of a translator is an important key role in Access to Justice,” said Theobald.

The chairman of KJC, Albert Zogaj, said the certification of translators is very important for the judicial system. “Certification of translators is vital to a proper legal system. Without clear communication between judges, lawyers and parties, justice may not be served,” said Zogaj.

“The importance of this certification guarantees the quality of service in the judicial system. With this certification we also pave the way for new translators who will increase the quality of translation and interpretation in different languages. Now we will have a new, updated list of court interpreters that all courts will be equipped with” – he said.

The Commissioner for Languages, Slavisa Mladenovic, said that some positive steps have been taken in the provision of translation services in the courts, where translators have been equipped with the most advanced electronic equipment for translation, the number of translators has increased and training for translators has been provided. Therefore, he believes that even this certification of translators will further increase public confidence, offering citizens more correct access to translated judicial processes.

There are 78 candidates who have been certified as court interpreters for the Albanian-Serbian language, while there are 104 candidates who have been certified for Albanian-English language.

EUKOJUST Expert on Access to Justice, Alina Matache and EUKOJUST Legal Advisor Nita Bejta organized an Info Session on Access to Justice for female inmates at the Female Correctional Centre on 6 of July, in partnership with the Kosovo Free Legal Aid Agency and the Ombudsperson Institution. The goal was to inform the female inmates about their rights, access to free legal aid, the process of conditional release, the different referral mechanism and complaint mechanisms and possibilities for rehabilitation and reintegration post release.

The Head of Free Legal Aid Agency, Anita Alaj Kalanderi and Flutura Berbati Zena, Head of the Department for Legal Services introduced the Agency’s services to the female inmates and discussed challenges and solutions into obtaining free legal aid in prisons.  Fidane Zekaj, Legal Adviser at the National Preventive Mechanism at the Ombudsperson Institution discussed the support of the Ombudsperson to the inmates whenever they face challenges while in prison.

The Kosovo Judicial Council (KJC), supported by the European Union / Kosovo Justice Sector Programme – EUKOJUST, is drafting a Manual for translators and interpreters in courts.

A workshop on this Manual with Kosovo Judicial Council, KJC Translation Office, the Normative Committee and interpreters and translators from Courts was organized in Prizren on Wednesday, 29 June 2022. It was moderated by the EUKOJUST Expert on Access to Justice, Alina Matache and supported by the EUKOJUST Expert on Management of translation services in courts and prosecution offices, Filloreta Hoxha.

The workshop is a follow-up of the 25 EUKOJUST Recommendations for coping with the translation backlog at Kosovo Courts and improve the management of translation services in the judiciary.

The Manual sets the standards and norms for interpreters and translators in the judicial sector, starting from establishing the number of daily pages to be translated, the number of hours to be spent in one hearing by one interpreter and the efficient use of human resources. Improving quality of translations, including non-majority official language is one of the main activities of Objective 4 of the EUKOJUST project dedicated to Access to Justice. Legal interpreting and legal translation in a bilingual context are of fundamental importance in helping to protect the rights of those who do not speak or understand the language of the proceedings and are also essential to safeguard the fairness of the proceedings.

The Kosovo Prosecutorial Council (KPC) is keeping pace with the modern tools in case management by implementing the Case Management Information System (CMIS) in the Kosovo prosecution system. EUKOJUST Project is supporting this effort as part of the activity to improve the quality of prosecution services. EUKOJUST Long-term Expert (LTE), Arben Isufi has been providing a significant support in drafting the CMIS Regulation, and now together with EUKOJUST LTE, Cristian Nicoara are supporting KPC to implement the newly adopted CMIS regulation. To this end, all administrators, CMIS trainers and KPC IT staff were gathered in an EUKOJUST organized workshop in Peja, where all questions and challenges were raised, and the best ways to proceed were identified.

The workshop was double-fold: to ensure that the critical factors in the prosecution offices are aware of the functional content of the CMIS system and its implementation on one side, and the managerial processes required to ensure that CMIS implementation in their working locations is embraced as part of the standard working patterns by the prosecutorial staff on the other side.

In this way, EUKOJUST long-term experts are providing constant support to KPC to enhance the capabilities of the administration at the central and local levels to use the CMIS system in their daily work. Being a relatively new tool with little systemic impact until now, the CMIS will massively interfere with the established working patterns in prosecution offices.

Building professional capacities of lawyers on the international and national legal framework for protection from domestic violence was the focus of a one-day training held in Prizren. The training was organised in cooperation with the Kosovo Bar Association (KBA) and delivered by the EUKOJUST Long Term Expert on Public Legal Education / Domestic Violence and Marginalized Groups Bardhë Krasniqi and Legal Advisor Nita Bejta. Almost 70 lawyers from the Prizren region licensed by the KBA attended the training.

“The Role of the Lawyer in representing the victims of Domestic Violence,” training also aimed at building the soft skills of lawyers to understand the dynamics of domestic violence situations – as part of the continuous legal education programme under the KBA umbrella.

The trainers discussed the need to apply human rights standards such as the Istanbul Convention, CEDAW – Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, ECHR – European Convention on Human Rights and the use of ECtHR – European Court of Human Rights case law in the Kosovo legal practice. This training raised the standard of practice for lawyers who will deal with Domestic Violence cases and will equip lawyers practicing in all areas with the necessary tools to handle Domestic violence or to screen for domestic abuse and provide appropriate legal advice when domestic violence has been identified as an issue.

The participants highly appreciated this training and benefited both from the professional point of view and from the good experience of the trainers.

The training was delivered under the EUKOJUST project’s specific objective of strengthening access to justice for all citizens in Kosovo, particularly in the field of domestic violence and disadvantaged or marginalized groups.

Members of the Kosovo Judicial Council (KJC), and heads of the Council’s Secretariat are attending the three-day intensive workshop organized by EUKOJUST to amend and further advance the regulatory framework pertaining to a better administration of the KJC and courts in Kosovo.

This includes the Case Management Information System use, administration of KJC and courts, functioning of the KJC’s Secretariat and the Judicial Inspection Unit, the status, rights, obligations, performance appraisal, disciplinary procedure, and termination of employment of professional associates as well as on non-financial assets and transfer of judges.

Besides, with the support of EUKOJUST expertise, KJC is conceptualizing the regulatory basis for the implementation of E-Payments in courts and introducing the concept on drafting a detailed strategic plan and action plan on systematization, automatization, and digitalization of judicial archives.

Chairman Albert Zogaj opened the workshop and on behalf of the Kosovo Judicial Council thanked the EUKOJUST project for its continued support to the judicial system of Kosovo, which aims to advance the judicial system and increase transparency and accountability.

Today is the third day of the Workshop organized by EUKOJUST for the inter-institutional Working Group for drafting the Law on National Centralized Criminal Record.

Moreover, EUKOJUST provided direct expertise in favour of the most accurate and clear drafting of legal provisions of this law.

Through the draft law that is being attempted to be completed in this Workshop and prepared for approval by the Government of Kosovo, the management of the centralized criminal evidence system, the role of the Ministry of Justice and the Kosovo Judicial Council in this segment will be regulated, as well as the citizens’ easy access in the criminal records certificates. The draft law will functionalize the central system of criminal records in practice and will make a step forward toward the digitalization of the justice system and facilitate access to justice for all citizens.

EUKOJUST continuously supports the Ministry of Justice and independent institutions, namely the Judicial and Prosecutorial Councils, in designing the best policies for the system with the aim to support real inter-institutional cooperation.