[photo: Constitutional Court of Kosovo]
[photo: Constitutional Court of Kosovo]
Members of the Working Group on the Constitutional Court during a meeting in Prevalla, Kosovo in November 2008
Members of the Working Group on the Constitutional Court during a meeting in Prevalla, Kosovo in November 2008
[photo: Constitutional Court of Kosovo]
Members of the Working Group on the Constitutional Court during a meeting in Prevalla, Kosovo in November 2008

Kosovo Constitutional Justice Initiative

2008-2012

Since opening its office in Kosovo in 1999, the East-West Management Institute (EWMI) has been at the forefront of Kosovo's development by supporting Kosovo's civil society, government and media through mentoring, training, grant-making and networking programs. In September 2012, EWMI completed work on the Kosovo Constitutional Justice Initiative. Launched in June 2008, under a grant from the UK Department for International Development (DFID), the project played an essential role in the development of the new Constitutional Court of Kosovo.  At the beginning of the project, the Court existed only in the text of the Constitution; at its conclusion, the Court stood as the most respected and influential judicial institution in the country. With its authority to review legislation and individual complaints of rights violations, the Court is the ultimate check on legislative and executive power in Kosovo and the final arbiter of the meaning of constitutional human rights provisions. The Court's landmark rulings to date include a decision that resulted in the removal of a sitting President from office, a decision clarifying key aspects of parliamentary immunity, and a decision protecting the rights of minorities in the selection of municipal symbols.