U.S. May Pay to Improve Kosovo Commercial Contract Courts

A tentative plan to help the nation of Kosovo to develop a "contract and commercial law framework" has been hatched by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

Improvements to the Kosovo court system's ability to enforce contracts and reduce case backload are necessary "if Kosovo hopes to improve the business environment and attract investment," USAID said in a draft Statement of Work (SOW) released this morning.

The main objectives of the Contract Law Enforcement, or CLE, program are to:

(1) to assist Kosovo institutions to improve the enforcement of civil judgments in an effective, efficient and accountable manner; to establish and functionalize the anticipated new enforcement system in Kosovo; and to develop mechanisms to reduce the backlogged enforcement cases in the Kosovo court system; and:

(2) to assist Kosovo to develop and harmonize its commercial law framework and systems; improve the contract enforcement systems and the effectiveness of the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanisms.

The agency is seeking comments on the draft SOW through May 25.

FOR ADDITIONAL REPORTING ON THE U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, SEE THE MONITOR'S USAID PAGE.