Kosovo Supreme Court Publishes First Issue of its Bulletin of Case Law

The Supreme Court of Kosovo today announced the publication of the first issue of its Bulletin of Case Law in a launch held at the USAID conference room. Philip Goldberg, Chief of Mission of the U. S. Office in Pristina, and Rexhep Haxhimusa, President of the Supreme Court, spoke at the event.

Edited and published by the Kosovo Law Center with a grant from the United States Office Pristina, the Bulletin covers decisions rendered between April 6, 2004 and April 6, 2005. The first issue of the Bulletin includes 110 decisions on criminal, civil, administrative and economic law. In addition, this issue includes the decisions of the international judges of the Supreme Court of Kosovo rendered since April 2004. This date was chosen because it marks the time when Kosovo's new Criminal Code and Criminal Procedure Code went into effect.

These decisions are available in Albanian, Serbian and English languages. The hard copy of the Bulletin includes a CD that contains the decisions in an electronic format, which will make the Bulletin user friendly. An electronic copy of the Bulletin will also be available soon on the websites of the Kosovo Law Center and Kosovo Public Prosecutors Association. Subsequent editions of the Bulletin will be published on quarterly basis.

This project was launched in July 2005, when the Supreme Court of Kosovo, United States Office Pristina and Kosovo Law Center signed a Memorandum of Understanding providing for the publication of the Kosovo Supreme Court Bulletin with a two-year grant from the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance and Training.

The main objective of the Bulletin is to enhance the transparency of the legal system, and improve the written product of the Supreme Court and lower courts, while providing for a consistent and uniform application of Kosovo laws. By exposing the rulings of the Supreme Court to public view and scrutiny, the importance of the hard work of this high court and the principles for which it stands will become both more widely understood, and more widely accepted.

The Supreme Court of Kosovo today announced the publication of the first issue of its in a launch held at the USAID conference room. Philip Goldberg, Chief of Mission of the U. S. Office in Pristina, and Rexhep Haxhimusa, President of the Supreme Court, spoke at the event.