1. Kosovo’s Evaluation system of Judges’ Performance
Budva, November, 2016
Albert Avdiu, Director of Kosovo Judicial Council Secretariat

2. 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

3. BACKGROUND Court Number of judges Number of court staff Supreme Court15 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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.

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