I. Court recording system in Kosovo - Eulex

EUROPEAN UNION
PLANNING TEAM FOR KOSOVO
EUPT KOSOVO
USE OF THE AUDIO RECORDING EQUIPMENT AND THE COMMON
PRACTICE OF THE DELIVERATION OF MINUTES IN THE COURSE OF
THE MAIN TRIAL
by
Anna-Christina Winterstein
Prishtinë/Priština, 29 April 2008
I. Court recording system in Kosovo
1. The implementation of the audio record pilot project
The new Provisional Code of Criminal Procedure mandated the use of the audio
recording equipment, effective as of April 6, 2004 to preserve a verbatim record of the
criminal proceedings in the Kosovo court system.
The USAID Justice System Reform Activity in Kosovo project (JSRAK) initiated a pilot
project to implement and test the use of audio recording equipment in 9 courts and one
prosecutor’s office. The equipment is currently functional in all 10 pilots. The use of the
equipment varies from approximately 20 % in some pilot sites to 80% in the most active
pilot sites. Reporting and observation mechanisms are in place.
Judges, court recorders, and other support staff have receded trained. The training
process started in August 2005 and is still ongoing. Training is continuously being
provided to the court staff based on their needs. JSRAK provided training to a training
officer at DJA/OJA on court recording and also trained local regional OJA/IT operators
so they can provide support on the technical aspects of the equipment to the court staff
(although this training officer was recently reassigned and no longer has responsibilities
for the project).
To facilitate input from all parties involved in the pilot project and to assist in the
evaluation and monitoring of the pilot project, an advisory committee was established
composed of judges, administrators, and prosecutors from the pilot sites, a Chamber of
Advocates representative, and representatives from the Department of Justice and the
KJC Secretariat.
In December 2006, the advisory committee unanimously supported continued use of
audio recording equipment by the current pilots and requested expansion of this pilot
project to ensure full implementation of the Provisional Criminal Procedural Code of
Kosovo (PCPCK) and to enhance transparency and efficiency in the courts. Also because
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USAID’s JSRAK project ends on 30 June 2007, it was concluded that joint OJA/JSRAK
responsibility for the functioning of the current pilot sites must be replaced by exclusive
KJC Secretariat responsibility.
Therefore in a meeting on March 2007 KJC decide that the Secretariat, under direction of
the Court Administration Committee will develop practical options for funding of the
enlargement of the audio recording project Secretariat and will identify the possibility the
financial support for this project. An additional other duty of the Secretariat is to develop
logistic plans for training.
Currently the Court Administration Committee together with the Secretariat and JSRAK
are working on drafting the procedures for using the audio recording equipment in future
by all courts.
2. Advantages of Audio Recording:
One obvious reason for the requirement in the Provisional Criminal Procedural Code of
Kosovo Code for the requirement for audio recording of criminal case proceedings is to
increase the transparency. Audio recording provides a complete record of everything
said during a hearing. If there is any question at a later time, for example, in appeal,
whether specific evidence was presented, the audio record will be available for
inspection. That precise record also would allow a review of precisely what was said
during a hearing, if a question is later raised regarding the professional behavior of a
judge, prosecutor, or lawyer.
In addition, the use of audio recording introduces the opportunity to increase efficiency in
a number of ways:
• The existence of the audio record could eliminate the necessity of preparation of
minutes, or a typewritten record for most proceedings, saving staff time.
• Because the staff person attending to the recording equipment is not required to
be making detailed notes, that person may have time in the courtroom to perform
other tasks to assist the judge during the proceedings, such as completing required
forms at the time of hearing and maintaining evidence presented during hearings.
• The current procedures for minute taking require that the judge recite the
testimony and evidence presented by parties in a proceeding in order to prepare
the official record of the proceedings. With appropriate guidelines, most of the
time spent on this task can be eliminated, since parties and those interested in the
court record can use the audio recording for reviewing the record of a case. This
approach would save considerable time spent now during hearings ensuring that
the dictated record is accurate.
3. Courts and Prosecution’s Office where a pilot project to implement
and test the use of audio recording equipment has been initiated:
1) District Court of Pristina (courtroom and judge’s office)
Due to lack of use the equipment from DC Pristina has been transferred to DC in
Peja
2) District prosecutor’s office in Prishtina, (prosecutor’s office)
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3) Municipal Court in Prishtina, (courtroom and judge’s office)
4) District Court in Mitrovica, (courtroom)
5) Municipal Court in Mitrovica, (courtroom)
6) District Court in Prizren, (courtroom)
7) District Court in Gjilan, (courtroom & judges offices)
In all other Court the traditional system is still in place, which is a summary of notes
typed by the Court Recorder during the trial sessions.
II. Common Practice of Minutes Delivery in Kosovo
The minutes are delivered only upon request of the parties. Usually only the judge and
the minute-taker sign the minutes in the end of each session during the main trial of a
criminal proceeding. It is not very common that the parties request the minutes of the
main trial session in criminal proceedings and in any case they are requested by the
defense counsel not by the prosecutor.
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