Human Dynamics led a consortium over 54 months to successfully deliver the EuropeAid project “Support to the Kosovo Judicial Council and to the Kosovo Prosecutorial Council”. The team provided technical assistance to help craft an appropriate, transparent and systematic methodology for appointments, and to further discipline and knowledge sharing.
The project’s Final Conference was held on 12 April 2016 in Pristina, Kosovo. Human Dynamics successfully implemented all of the 67 planned activities and delivered more than 250 outputs across the four and a half years.
This included the creation of a systematic process to appoint both judges and prosecutors that will ensure due diligence and inject greater transparency into the appointment process. The benefits of this will be felt by the entire judicial system, as the thoroughness of the appointment process lifts the quality of all the participants. The new systematic process is being supported by a disciplinary framework to ensure that both judges and prosecutors adhere to accepted norms and practices by establishing a lattice of expected behaviours and associated penalties for not meeting expectations. To underpin the disciplinary framework, the team are collaborating with a wide group of stakeholders to instill a code of ethics among both judges and prosecutors.
As part of the project, our team worked on draft law amendments regarding the disciplinary procedures against judges and prosecutors, to ensure that these laws are in compliance with the Project’s recommendations and European standards. Amendments included e.g. introduction of an appeals procedure to the Supreme Court against disciplinary decisions of the Councils — to ensure that this process is in accordance with international standards; and a rule on limitation periods so that this is in accordance with international standards.
Furthermore, to aid the improvement of judicial efficiency, we have worked to develop and strengthen the role of the Legal Resource Centre, and to increase access to legal documents. Such enhanced access provides a major tool for improving judicial performance, as both judges and prosecutors have more material and information on which to base their judgement and decisions.