A Memorandum of Understanding to pilot the process of delivering the electronic summonses from the Basic Court of Pristina to the State Advocacy, was signed in Pristina by Ms. Albulena Haxhiu – Minister of Justice and Mr. Albert Zogaj - Chairman of Kosovo Judicial Council.

During the event Ms. Haxhiu highlighted that digitalization of the justice system is one of the priorities of the government. “The Memorandum will be part of a series of such acts with other institutions which have preceded and will follow the same goal, namely the digitalization of the justice system.”, stressed Haxhiu.

In his remarks Mr. Zogaj showed readiness to contribute and fulfill all the obligations arising from this process, supported by this Memorandum of Understanding, to increase the efficiency of the work in the courts and the quality of justice system. “The KJC is ready to contribute and fulfill all obligations arising from this process, supported by this memorandum of understanding, in order to increase the efficiency of work in the courts of the country”, Mr. Zogaj said.

 

The institutional co-operation and the Memorandum of Understanding was greeted by Mr. Frank Power - Head of the Council of Europe Office in Pristina and Mr Nicola Scaramuzzo, Team leader in the European Union Office. They emphasised the importance of this Memorandum because it is the first step towards the very much awaited digitalization of the communication between courts and parties, including all justice professionals, public institutions, private companies, as well as citizens.

           

The Memorandum foresees that, as from 1 July 2022, the civil and administrative departments in the Basic Court of Pristina will start sending court summonses to the State Advocacy by email and no longer by post. The summonses will be generated automatically from the Case Management Information System (CMIS) and will be sent electronically

 

The process of digitalization of the justice system constitutes an important necessity to increase the efficiency and quality of the entire justice system, as recommended by the CEPEJ in many of its tools and guidelines. The implementation of the Memorandum will have a positive impact very quickly on a large number of cases.

 

This initiative is supported by the KoSEJ II action “Strengthening the Quality and Efficiency of Justice in Kosovo”, which is part of the joint programme entitled "Horizontal Facility of the Western Balkans and Turkey II", co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe.

 

 

 

* This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo Declaration of Independence