Courts as Policy-Makers – Examining the Role of Constitutional Courts as Agents of Change in the Western Balkans

This research project investigated the contribution of constitutional courts to democratic transition and consolidation in the countries of the former Yugoslavia, and focused on examining the capacity, positioning, legitimacy and overall performance of constitutional courts in resolving important political and social issues in four transitional countries of the Western Balkans. The Belgrade Centre for Human Rights implemented this project with Center for Social Research Analitika from Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Group for Legal and Political Studies in Kosovo and the CRPM – Center for Research and Policy Making in Macedonia.

The main goal of the research project was to shed light on the role and performance of constitutional courts in resolving important political and social questions in BiH, Serbia, Kosovo, and Macedonia, as well as to analyse transitional jurisprudence in the countries of the former Yugoslavia.. The specific objectives of the project were: examining the competence, legitimacy, and efficiency of constitutional courts in resolving important transitional disputes; identifying possible behavioural patterns of constitutional courts at different stages of democratic consolidation; and identifying key factors that determine the overall role of constitutional courts in democratic transition in said countries. The project enabled publication of six research/working papers, the publication of several academic papers in peer-reviewed journals, the organisation of two project workshops, publication of research paper “The Role of Constitutional Court of Serbia in democratic transition” and the organisation of the final academic workshop which focused on the research results.