Strengthening Kosovo's Legal Profession

About our work

New Perimeter worked on a three-year project focused on supporting practicing lawyers through the Kosovo Bar Association (KBA). The New Perimeter team undertook a comprehensive review of all the laws and regulations affecting the legal sector in Kosovo, including Kosovo’s ethics rules and disciplinary system, and made recommendations for improvement. The team also provided training to practicing lawyers on legal ethics and participated in panel discussions on the importance of ethics in the legal profession, including at local law schools. In addition, the team trained KBA staff on the conduct of disciplinary proceedings and assisted the KBA Committees on Gender and Minorities to devise and implement strategies to increase the number of women and minority lawyers in Kosovo. 

Key deliverables

• Undertook a comprehensive review of all laws and regulations affecting the legal profession in Kosovo and made recommendations for improvement
• Delivered a “train-the-trainers” course on legal ethics for KBA member lawyers
• Delivered training for KBA staff on disciplinary hearings
• Provided strategic planning assistance for the KBA Committees on Gender and Minorities

Key facts

• At the time of the project, although 50 percent of law school graduates in Kosovo were women, only 12 percent of lawyers who took the bar exam and were licensed to practice law were female.
• This project was a natural extension of New Perimeter’s previous partnership with NCSC. From 2005-2010, New Perimeter partnered with NCSC to assist the UN Mission in Kosovo and the Kosovar provisional government in drafting the laws creating the Kosovo court system and system of public prosecution.

Featured staff

Featured lawyer: Mary Gately
Program manager: Sara K. Andrews