Commercial Justice Activity is a five-year activity program aiming to reduce opportunities for corruption and improve perceptions of businesses and the public by improving commercial dispute resolution, strengthening enforcement of judgments, and fostering an understanding of the processes that promote investment and economic growth in Kosovo. The activity aims to:

STRENGTHEN KOSOVO’S CAPACITY TO RESOLVE COMMERCIAL DISPUTES AND ENFORCE JUDGMENTS
The program supports significant reform of court-based litigation processes through promoting structural reform of the courts that handle commercial cases and through training of the judges and court staff that manage the cases in the courts.  To improve the integrity of the judgment enforcement process, the program will help strengthen governance, capacity, and professionalism within the private-enforcement agent system.  Activities under this objective also work to address the strong perceptions among businesses of corruption in commercial justice institutions. 

ENHANCE COMMERCIAL LAW, USE OF ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE MECHANISMS, AND IMPROVE PUBLIC’S AWARENESS AND LEGAL LITERACY                                                                                                      
USAID through this activity supports more systematic and effective coordination among Kosovo’s commercial justice institutions while promoting greater reliance on alternative dispute resolution.  Our team supports clarification and harmonization of the broad, sometimes conflicting, range of laws that apply to businesses.  The program will expand public awareness of commercial dispute resolution and enforcement mechanisms by engaging in an extensive campaign of outreach and information sharing on commercial justice. 

IMPROVE STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION OF COMMERCIAL JUSTICE INSTIUTIONS                 
Strategi communications is key to aligning commercial justice institutions into a shared vision of their respective roles and responsibilities.  USAID through this activity  seeks to build communication and public relations capacity of these institutions to the general public and support capacity for better advocacy on legislative and regulatory initiatives. 

CROSS -CUTTING ACTIVITIES
Interventions and information gathering of the activity is inclusive, designed to address issues that affect gender balance and youth, as well as speak to Kosovo’s broad range of non-majority populations.  The program will harness the power of youth through piloting a next-generation internship activity—the Commercial Justice Academy initiative—as well as through outreach and awareness messaging targeted toward youth.  The internship activity is implemented for the entire program duration, aiming to improve commercial law expertise and providing opportunities to gain experience that will make law, economic, and business students more attractive to prospective employers. 

Key Expected Results 

• A law on Commercial Court drafted by the Ministry of Justice, with program support, that will establish a standalone court to handle effectively business and investor disputes
• Approval of five Administrative Instructions on mediation that will ensure the implementation of the Law on Mediation
• Availability of online mediation to help Kosovo citizens resolve disputes outside of court
• Development of a Train-the-Trainer program for Commercial Law Training Curriculum with the Kosovo Justice Academy to train judges and court staff on core commercial law topics
• Development of an automated enforcement management system that will streamline and unify how private enforcement agents handle cases and provide badly needed performance data to the Ministry of Justice
• Placement of interns at several commercial justice counterpart institutions to gain real world experience in commercial justice

Project Duration:  February 2019 – February 2024        

Partner:                     Checchi and Co. Consulting, Inc.                                     

Contact:                    Zana Berisha