Pristina, 24 June 2024 – The 14th Conference of Chief Justices of Central and Eastern Europe, hosted by the Supreme Court of the Republic of Kosovo this year, has begun.
This annual conference, which will conduct its proceedings today and resume tomorrow and is being organized by the Supreme Court, in cooperation with the Kosovo Judicial Council (KJC), the CEELI Institute, USAID and INL, aims to promote rule of law via discussion and exchange of judicial experiences between chief justices of participating courts from eight countries: Albania, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Romania and Poland.
In his opening speech, the President of the Supreme Court, Fejzullah Rexhepi, considered the Conference as an excellent opportunity to discuss and exchange ideas, deepen cooperation and strengthen judicial systems through the exchange of best legal practices between local and international judiciaries.
He elaborated on the five topics of the Conference, which will be moderated by representatives of participating countries.
“Judicial Independence, Backlogs and Delays, Access to Justice, Public Support and Respect for the Judiciary and Technological Innovations in Judicial Reform. “All these issues together constitute the foundation on which our judicial systems rely and depend, namely, they are the pillars underlying freedom, democracy and equality of all our citizens before the law, without distinction,” President Rexhepi emphasized inter alia.
In her introductory speech, Gresa Caka-Nimani, President of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Kosovo, underscored the need to preserve judicial independence even in new democracies, whereas Homer Moyer, founder of CEELI Institute, emphasized the importance of strengthening the rule of law, asserting that “Kosovo judiciary deserves commendation for the important work that was done”.
Robert Strang, Executive Director of CEELI Institute, and John Walker, Senior US Circuit Judge, expressed their appreciation to the Supreme Court for organizing the Conference, pointing out that, in the world’s history, citizens have taken important steps to advance the rule of law.
The conference resumed the proceedings of its first session on Judicial Independence, which was moderated by Marjeta Švab Širok, Vice President of the Supreme Court of Slovenia.
The second session, on Backlogs and Delays, was moderated by Asim Vokshi, Judge of the Supreme Court of Albania.
The third session of the Conference, on the topic of Access to Justice, will be moderated by Vesna Vučković, Vice President of the Supreme Court of Montenegro, whereas Tuesday sessions will cover the topics of: Building Support and Respect for the Judiciary and Technological Innovations in Court Reforms, which will be moderated by Danguolė Bublienė, President of the Supreme Court of Lithuania, and Joanna Lemanska, President of the Extraordinary Review and Public Affairs Chamber of the Polish Supreme Court.
On the occasion of this important Conference, the Supreme Court organized a solemn ceremony the day before, where the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the Supreme Court of Kosovo was also marked.
