Comparative Aspects of Mediation in Civil Law and Criminal Law With a Special Focus on Kosovo

Mediation as an alternative dispute resolution in Kosovo is in a summarized manner regulated by the Law on Mediation, although some related concrete issues are also addressed by the Criminal Procedure Code, the Law on Contested Procedure, and the Juvenile Justice Code.When it comes to civil disputes and criminal cases, this legislation contains, in addition to similarities, some substantial differences.The arguments for this are based on the analysis of legal solutions and practical cases of Kosovo.The analysis also includes the relevant laws of Albania and Serbia, which are more comparable to the legal system of Kosovo.The analysis points out the fact that although the Kosovo legislator followed the examples of other countries by establishing standardized rules for the implementation of mediation, it has nevertheless failed to do so in some aspects.This and other factors have influenced the implementation of mediation in Kosovo to be at low levels in practice.This paper addresses the common and distinctive points of legal solutions in Kosovo with Albania and Serbia, which govern mediation, and are applicable in resolving civil and criminal cases.It highlights the shortcomings law Kosovar therein contained and offers concrete ideas on how to remove them.