Kosovo’s Evaluation system of Judges’ Performance Budva, 16-18 November, 2016 Albert Avdiu, Director of Kosovo Judicial Council Secretariat

BACKGROUND KOSOVO JUDICIAL COUNCIL RESTRUCTURE OF COURTS 2013 SUPREME COURT COURT OF APPEALS SEVEN (7) BASIC COURT, WITH 20 BRANCHES More than 400,000 cases, 350 judges Peshimin e lendeve nenkuptojme vleren mesatare kohore dmth tregojme se sa realisht I merr mesatarisht kohe nje gjqyatari nje lloj lëndë e caktuar

BACKGROUND Court Number of judges Number of court staff Supreme Court 15 22 Special Chamber 10 28 Court of Appeals 33 69 Basic Courts 263 1318 TOTAL 321 1437 Peshimin e lendeve nenkuptojme vleren mesatare kohore dmth tregojme se sa realisht I merr mesatarisht kohe nje gjqyatari nje lloj lëndë e caktuar

BACKGROUND 430,923 Out of the overall caseload: Court Disposed cases during 2014  Remaining cases Number of inherited cases: New filings in 2014 Supreme Court 1127 114 1,013 993 134 Special Chamber 22,108 12,605 9,503 2,629 19,479 Court of Appeals 19,225 7,282 11,943 10,937 8,288 Basic Courts 810,162 436,139 374,023 407,140 403,022 TOTAL 852,622 456,140 396,482 421,699 430,923 Peshimin e lendeve nenkuptojme vleren mesatare kohore dmth tregojme se sa realisht I merr mesatarisht kohe nje gjqyatari nje lloj lëndë e caktuar

BACKGROUND Law on Kosovo Judicial Council - Amendments to the Law on Kosovo Judicial Council on the evaluation of judges’ performance Evaluation of judges’ during the initial mandate: - after the initial training - - after the expiration of initial mandate - Evaluation of judges’ during their permanent mandate: - every three years - Kosovo Judicial Council Regulation on Evaluation of the performance of judges Peshimin e lendeve nenkuptojme vleren mesatare kohore dmth tregojme se sa realisht I merr mesatarisht kohe nje gjqyatari nje lloj lëndë e caktuar

Changes/Reforms Since Previous Regulation Law on Courts provided for candidates to be subject to the training upon their appointment to judgeship; Regulation on the performance evaluation of judges does not include evaluation of lay judges and court presidents; Evaluation of the performance of judges regulated in detail; both after the initial appointment and the permanent mandate; Evaluation conducted by a Mentor upon the finalization of the initial training. 6

Changes/Reforms Since previous Regulation Evaluation of the performance of the Supreme Court judges mandatory; Levels of the evaluation introduced; Evaluation procedure as an indicator for re-appointment, promotion or dismissal; In light of the international standards, mainly CCJE Opinion no.17 on the evaluation of judges’ work and the quality of justice. 7

Regulation on the evaluation of judges’ performance METHODOLOGY Performance evaluation Committee, comprising out of judges of all levels; Sub-committee comprising out of Supreme Court judges for the evaluation of judges of this level; Evaluation Committee approves the Annual Work plan; Judges are evaluated based on objective criteria. OBJECTIVE CRITERIA Consisting out of following elements provided by the primary legislation: Professional knowledge, capacity for legal reasoning, ability and capacity to analyze legal issues, professional ability based on previous career result including participation in organized forms of training when the performance has been evaluated; Performance; Work experience; Knowledge and respect for human rights; Conduct out of the office, personal integrity and communication skills. The criterion set is measured pursuant to the indicators enlisted in the Regulation. Individuale: Makifete Saliuka Selim Nikqi Ferit Bislimi Hamdi Ibrahimi Hasim Sogojeva Salih Mekaj (Presiding Judge, but deals ëith mainly criminal matters), Elmaze Syka (Criminal District Court judge) Hasan Shala (Civil District Court judge) Besnik Ramosaj Fatmir Rexhepi 8

Sources of information used for the evaluation Numri i lëndëve të reja Koha (e kalkulaur në orë) Ngarkesa me punë (e kalkulaur në orë) Main sources Judges’ personal file 1000 * = Report of the Court president 300 * = Random selection of judicial decisions 200 * = 9

Sources of information for the evaluation Koha (e kalkulaur në orë) Ngarkesa me punë (e kalkulaur në orë) Including Decisions submitted by a judge Statistics * = Eventual remarks of a judge Interview * = Report of the reporting member of the Committee Disciplinary decisions * = Other

Efficiency in resolving cases Ngarkesa me punë (e kalkulaur në orë) Efficiency and time resolution of cases Success in realizing and exceeding the norm Complexity of cases = Comparison of the no. of completed cases to the average of completed cases by the court Absence from work = Comparison of the backlog of a respective judge with the one of the court Engagement in other activities = Time: every three years 11

Following international standards Formal system of evaluation of judges’ performance; Basis and elements of the evaluation set out in primary legislation; Evaluation based on objective criteria; Evaluation expressed mainly through numbers, percentages avoided; Evaluation undertaken by judges; Judges enabled to express their views on the evaluation; An unfavorable evaluation alone does not result in a dismissal from the office; Evaluation conducted with the aim of fulfilling justice of the highest quality and proper accountability.

THANK YOU Nuk ka te dhena per Mitrovice, Zubin Potok dhe Leposavic 13