NEW ENFORCEMENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM STRENGTHENS COMMERCIAL JUSTICE SECTOR

For businesses, each delay in a court decision and debt collection, disrupts operations and negatively affects their finances and operations.  Commercial enterprises depend on judicial institutions and law professionals to carry out the administration of justice fairly, transparently, and efficiently.  

In April, the Ministry of Justice launched a web-based, automated Enforcement Management System (EMS) application that was developed in partnership with USAID.  The new EMS is designed to improve access to performance information about private enforcement agents - debt collectors - and streamline enforcement.  Albulena Haxhiu, Kosovo’s Minister of Justice, believes the new system will strengthen public trust in Kosovo.  “The launch of the Enforcement Management System means…increasing professional standards and security in the exercise of the profession, [and] increasing transparency and protection of the public interest.”

Until now, Kosovo’s enforcement system had asked very little of private enforcement agents and could not generate the necessary data to reinforce accountability. This meant that the Ministry of Justice and the public at large had no way of knowing whether individual private enforcement agents were being fair and lawful and whether the system as a whole was effective and efficient.  With the new system's increased transparency, citizens and businesses will be able to follow the timeline and progress of their cases, the actual percentage for debt collection, and whether there is a backlog in cases. 

While the EMS is a game-changer in accountability, it also streamlines and standardizes the work of private enforcement agents.  Isa Gacaferi, a private enforcement agent, gave an example of this.  “The EMS has brought efficiency in communication with institutions with which we cooperate continuously…[allowing] information in real time.”

Kosovo’s new enforcement management system strengthens the country’s commercial justice sector and will help to secure a healthy and prosperous business climate in the country.