Kosovo – annual report 2024

Details: Published: September 4, 2025

Strategic Framework

Legal Policy Starting Point

Kosovo officially submitted its application for EU membership on 15 December 2022. The speed of the rapprochement process depends largely on Kosovo’s progress in adopting the acquis communautaire, particularly in the areas of establishing Rule of Law and developing a functioning market economy. However, Kosovo continues to be burdened by the ongoing conflict with Serbia in terms of both domestic and foreign policy. This circumstance and the non-recognition of Kosovo by some EU member states do not bode well for a rapid EU accession process. In addition, the situation in northern Kosovo remains tense. The visa liberalisation for Kosovo agreed by the European Council and European Parliament in 2022 came into force on 1 January 2024.

Overall Concept

Kosovo has been an important partner state of IRZ not only since the accession process to the European Union was initiated. The country is actively involved in implementing the growth plan developed by the EU for the Western Balkans, which is based, among other things, on gradual integration into the European Union’s internal market, regional economic integration and fundamental reforms. IRZ is therefore also pursuing a regional approach in its partner states in the Western Balkans by organising cross-border events to support the EU accession processes. At the same time, the need for individual country-specific activities is not lost sight of. Synergies can be utilised through joint events, for example in speeding up procedures in accordance with Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights, on general human rights issues and in promoting the European orientation of young legal professionals.

Focus on Activity in 2024

Constitutional law, Human Rights and their Enforceability

Joint conference of the Constitutional Court of Kosovo and the Supreme Court of Kosovo on “Access to judiciary, in particular protection of vulnerable groups” in Thessaloniki

Administration of Justice

Seminar on “Internal and external communication of judicial authorities: Use of social media” for press spokespersons of the Judicial Academy and the Public Prosecutors’ Office in Pristina

Criminal and Penitentiary Law

Consultations on extradition topics with the Kosovan Ministry of Justice in Pristina

Civil und Commercial Law

Workshop on international legal cooperation in civil matters (several Hague Conventions) with the Kosovan Judicial Academy

Project funded by the European Union EU grant project EUKOJUST

July 2024 saw the end of an EU-funded “flagship project” on judicial reform in Kosovo, which IRZ had been implementing together with its Dutch cooperation partner CILC and the Croatian Ministry of Justice and Public Administration for 46 months since October 2020. With a volume of seven million euros, it was one of the largest projects that IRZ has ever led. It supported Kosovo’s central institutions of the judiciary, above all the Ministry of Justice, the Judicial Council and the Prosecutorial Council, the Judicial Academy, the Legal Office of the Prime Minister’s Office and other key stakeholders from the judiciary and civil society during an important reform phase. The aim was to provide comprehensive support to Kosovo’s judiciary in implementing expansive judicial reform. The priorities were to increase the efficiency and transparency of the judicial system, develop and harmonise the legal framework and further improve the quality of justice for all population groups in Kosovo.

The project was implemented during the governing period of the left-wing reform movement “Vetëvendosje” (self-determination), which was in favour of taking action against corruption in the judiciary and consistently pursuing important judicial reforms. This positioning led to a great willingness on the part of the Ministry of Justice to cooperate with the project as well as with the individual actors from the judiciary and thus to a high level of dynamic in the planning and implementation of the project activities.

For instance, it was possible to agree on the concept of a uniform digitisation of the judiciary, which is to be formalised in a digitisation strategy. This concept is being developed on the basis of the existing IT systems with a view to the requirements of international and European organisations (such as EUROPOL) with regard to data security, transparency, statistics and information exchange. At the same time, the project introduced standards for numerous work processes in the administration of justice in order to feed the existing systems with standardised and correct procedural data and thus increase the reliability of data.

With regards to preparing the institutions for a future EU accession process, the project succeeded in introducing a uniform so-called pre-screening thematic approach for legal harmonisation in close cooperation with the Legal Office of the Prime Minister’s Office. This entails legally binding review mechanisms for the ministries for every legislative initiative or reform in order to determine whether EU standards are to be complied with and, if necessary, to ensure that they are observed. Herein lies a milestone for the further systematic harmonisation of the Kosovan legal framework with the EU acquis.

The concept for restructuring Kosovo’s Ministry of Justice, which was implemented in December 2023 following an intensive consultation process, was equally fundamental. The new structure enables the ministry to utilise scarce personnel resources more effectively, define competences more clearly and improve the quality of work, particularly in the departments central to the accession process (legal department, departments for European integration and for international legal cooperation). To this end, the project developed comprehensive manuals, job descriptions and specific training concepts.

Another focus was on victim protection and the more efficient, faster processing of cases of domestic violence, a very virulent area in Kosovo. Intensive educational and training activities for the various parties involved in the proceedings led to shorter proceedings even during the project period.

In total, the project supported the institutions in reforming 65 laws and 35 sub-legislative acts in numerous subject areas (civil procedure law, administrative court procedure, regulatory offences and criminal law). The team developed 29 manuals and standard operational procedures, organised over 180 training courses and workshops for more than 4,000 participants and was an important point of contact for Kosovar beneficiaries in all pertinent reform discussions. As a result, the project activities remained highly dynamic throughout the whole implementation period, despite a temporary stagnation in cooperation between the government and the judiciary. Unfortunately, an extension of the project desired by all sides failed due to the tense situation in the north of the country and the dispute with Serbia, which is why the EU was unable to release any additional funds. IRZ will endeavour to continue to support the implementation of important measures on a bilateral basis and is also positioning itself for a further project phase.

Outlook

In 2025, IRZ will continue its intensive and profitable cooperation with its partner institutions in Kosovo. IRZ is also expected to implement regional and cross-border activities with other Western Balkan states, also with funding from the Federal Foreign Office, in order to use synergies and provide them with technical support in their accession processes, promote the Rule of Law and thus further stabilise the region.

IRZ also intends to support central institutions such as the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court and to facilitate important platforms for the exchange of expertise and experience and thus also the formation of networks. Furthermore, the established cooperation with the various departments of the Kosovo Ministry of Justice, the Kosovo Prosecutorial Council (KPC) and the Judicial Academy, among others, is to be continued. In 2025, the thematic focus will be on access to judiciary, including vulnerable groups, while also covering juvenile criminal law, combating domestic violence and the training and further education of judges and Public Prosecutors’ Offices. In the area of civil law, the Ministry of Justice is planning advisors on the reform of the civil procedural law.

In addition, the multi-year EU project “EUKOJUST – Kosovo Justice Sector Programme”, which was led by IRZ and concluded in July 2024 (see above), revealed further consultation needs that are to be addressed in 2025 as part of bilateral cooperation.