The new Rules of Procedure of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Kosovo have been published in the official gazette of the Republic of Kosovo, on Friday and will enter into force fifteen days after publication in the official gazette, namely from July 22, 2023.

According to a communique of the Constitutional Court, the work regulations of the Constitutional Court are a constitutional category based on Article 115 [Organization of the Constitutional Court] of the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo.

"The drafting of the new Rules of Procedure of the Constitutional Court has been subject to a one-year process of analysis of the procedures and practices of the Court based on the preliminary Rules of Procedure, but also to comparative analyzes related to the best international practices, including the practice of the European Court for Human Rights, those of other constitutional courts, as well as the relevant Opinions and Reports of the Venice Commission. Beyond the ongoing discussions throughout the year 2022, changes and additions to the Rules of Procedure have been discussed and reviewed in two (2) joint workshops of judges, members of the Legal Unit and senior management of the Court. The court had the honor to welcome the contribution of the American federal judge John R. Tunheim, a prominent expert on the constitutional and legal system of the Republic of Kosovo, who also participated in the drafting of the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo and the initial founding acts of the Constitutional Court. The new Rules of Procedure of the Constitutional Court are organized in nine (9) chapters and contain eighty (80) material and procedural provisions that regulate the decision-making of the Court, its judicial activity, but also aspects of the internal administrative organization. Among the most essential changes that can be highlighted in the new Regulation are: (i) increasing efficiency in decision-making through, among other things, shortening the internal procedural deadlines related to the publication of a judicial decision after decision-making; (ii) increasing transparency, especially in judicial decision-making, among other things, through the publication of the report of votes for and against a decision, in contrast to the current system through which judicial decision-making is published only by noting whether a decision was taken by unanimous vote or by majority, as well as opening for dissenting and competing opinions of judges in all categories of Court decision-making, in contrast to the current system where the same were allowed only in relation to Court Judgments; (iii) increasing the transparency and accountability of the Court through the consolidation of principles and procedures for access to judicial documents, including confidential ones; and (iv) consolidation of internal mechanisms for systematic and regular supervision of the implementation of the Court's decisions. The process of drafting the new Work Regulation was completed on June 27, 2023, when the Court reviewed and voted in an administrative session Work Regulation no. 01/2023. On the same day, the judges of the Constitutional Court also approved the new Code of Ethics for Judges of the Constitutional Court, which has already been published on the website of the Constitutional Court.   

The Constitutional Court emphasizes that it remains committed to continuously improve the internal administrative functioning and judicial decision-making, in terms of efficiency, quality, transparency and accountability, following and implementing the best European practices and beyond, within the scope allowed by the Constitution. Law on the Constitutional Court and other applicable laws of the Republic of Kosovo.