Achievements
• Reports have provided more than 200 recommendations for judicial
reform, many of which have been implemented;
• Institutional reforms have included the creation of a judicial training
institute, judicial inspection unit, criminal defence resource centre, and
probation service;
• Legislative reforms have included new procedural and substantive
criminal codes, a juvenile justice code, a law on the execution of
criminal sanctions, and the issuance of justice circulars;
• Participation of a greater number of ethnic minorities as justice-system
officials, the staffing of international judges and prosecutors in politically
sensitive cases, and improved practices related to the appointment of
defence counsel;
• The LSMS has issued 15 public reports, 7 semi-public reports, and more
than 30 monthly reports analysing the justice system and providing
recommendations for remedial actions. The LSMS has delivered the
reports to judges, prosecutors, and other legal professionals. This has
resulted in improved performance and increased professionalism by
judges, prosecutors, and lawyers, and other legal professionals.
Of Note
Despite the positive institutional developments noted above, the LSMS
continues to monitor significant deficiencies in the administration of
justice in individual cases. With the anticipated transition in the status of
Kosovo from UN administration, the LSMS will face the programmatic
challenge of establishing a productive and co-operative working relationship with the new governmental institutions so that it may continue to
play an effective role in reform processes. In the last few years, the LSMS
has already begun to implement new working methods with national
legal actors. Such methods include the issuance of semi-public monthly
monitoring reports to courts, public prosecutors, and advocates, providing monitoring results, as well as regular meetings with local judges and
prosecutors to discuss findings.
Trial-Monitoring: A Reference Manual for Practitioners
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