European standards and main challenges to strengthen judicial transparency and protection of freedom of expression were explored during the the Conference organised today in Pristina with judges and representatives of the judiciary.  

Entitled “European Court of Human Rights Standards on Transparency and Freedom of Expression in the Judicial System” the event was opened by Fejzullah Rexhepi - President of the Supreme Court, who underlined the importance of transparency and freedom of expression for strengthening public trust in the judiciary and for ensuring the proper functioning of the rule of law.

Darian Pavli, Judge of the European Court of Human Rights has delivered a keynote presentation on the latest case-law of the European Court under Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights which concerns freedom of expression. His presentation addressed, among other issues, speeches on matters of public interest, including the rights and obligations of magistrates, as well as online speech and third-party comments, highlighting the rights and duties of public figures.

Further contributions were provided by Gresa Caka - former President of the Constitutional Court, who addressed constitutional standards on the freedom of expression.  Representatives from the judiciary exchanged on the current judicial practice, offering participants an opportunity to reflect on the application of European standards in the domestic context.

The conference concluded with an open discussion, allowing participants to exchange views on current challenges and good practices in promoting transparency and freedom of expression within the judicial system.

This conference was organised by the Kosovo Judicial Council with the support of the action on “Protecting Freedom of Expression and of the Media (PROFREX)” part of the EU and Council of Europe joint programme Horizontal Facility III.