Administration and Access to Justice Through Technology: The Experience of the Constitutional Court of Kosovo
摘要
Traditionally, the rule of law has been hampered by barriers such as the inaccessibility of legal services, long processing times, lack of funds and physical and linguistic barriers. Incorporating technology into the judicial process presents an opportunity to reduce such barriers and bring the rule of law to the forefront. The Constitutional Court of Kosovo has the most advanced technological infrastructure of any court in the Republic of Kosovo. As the final authority on all constitutional questions, including the human rights of individuals, access to the Constitutional Court of Kosovo is imperative for the rule of law and legal equality throughout the Republic. Integrating technology into the internal functions of the Court and making its functions more accessible externally is essential towards achieving the mission of the Court. The COVID-19 pandemic showed the capabilities of the system. It also acted as a catalyst, as the relevance of technology in the Court system became impossible to ignore. While the use of technology for court proceedings became the only way to work at the same time as the Constitutional Court of Kosovo was involved in urgent deliberations, finding a way to balance the interests of justice, fairness and privacy on the one hand, and public health and safety on the other became imperative. Using the experience of the Constitutional Court of Kosovo as a case study, we will examine the ways the current use of technology and e-justice has affected the judicial landscape. From this, we will look at the next steps for post-lockdown justice and how technology can be used to best achieve the goals of access to justice and equality before the law.