PROPERTY RIGHTS – “Joint ownership, co-ownership and joint property”

On April 3^rd 2019 in Gjilan, and April 5^th 2019 in Mitrovica, Academy of Justice within the Continuous Training Program and with the support of USAID Property Rights Program, organized trainings on the Property Rights – Joint Ownership, co-ownership and joint property. 

Purpose of these trainings was to extend the judges knowledge on co-ownership and joint property in Kosovo and modern trends, as well as on correct application of the applicable legislation when deciding on legal disputes.

First part of these training elaborated the following: Co-ownership according to the Law on Property and other Real Rights (LPORR) – meaning and object of co-ownership, rights of the co-owner, administration of the co-ownership and termination of co-ownership. This part elaborated on joint property according to the LPORR as well as joint property according to the Family Law of Kosovo – basic characteristics and distinction in relation to co-ownership, joint property of spouses, items that constitute joint property and the property acquired by work during the course of marriage.

Second part of the training covered the following: property acquired by random contract, money, items purchased by loan, gifts given to spouses, responsibility for debts, administration and availability of the joint property and division of joint property of spouses.

Training focused on provision of knowledge to judges about the co-ownership and joint property in Kosovo as well as modern trends, what constitutes joint property of spouses, its legal nature, and what is separate property of spouses. It continued with elaboration of what is contribution of spouses to creation of joint property and how to fairly decide in disputes between spouses when they have disagreements about the joint property, as well as other issues present in the actual Kosovo judicial practice.

Also, the training provided knowhow on the case law of competent courts when deciding on property disputes according to applicable legislation, extending to the main concepts of this case law. Explanations provided possibility to identify and easily distinguish these forms of property rights, and deciding about related cases, particularly when setting the rights of co-owners, including the right to divide the joint property and the ways of division. Also, it was explained how to correctly apply legal provisions in cease when proving spouse’s contribution to joint property, as one of the most frequent problems in the judicial case law in the Republic of Kosovo.

Training used methods of theoretical lecturing, case-based teaching, and interactive discussions facilitated by experts, provided handouts, and was open for analysis and elaboration of the topic, focusing on correct application of legal provisions in practice of competent courts, and provided explanations on legal provisions pertaining to Joint ownership, co-ownership and joint property. 

Beneficiaries of this training in Peja were judges and professional associates of basic instance of the Peja, Gjakova and Prizren courts; whereas in Prishtina were judges and professional associates from the Prishtina region.