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Kosovo is one of several Western Balkan countries that are part of the next round of accession to the EU. Like Bosnia, Serbia, and Croatia, it is also a country in which the history of conflict is recent and the benefits of EU membership ought to be a strong economic and political enticement to meet the standards necessary for membership. Yet, instead of major transformation of the post-conflict society towards democratization, economic development, and a robust human rights regime, the prospect of European Union membership appears to be leading to superficial legal changes without enforcement. This article investigates the tensions between internal challenges to legal change and external pressures for reform, adding to the literature on the decoupling of Europeanization and domestic change in candidate countries. A short analysis of one policy area, women’s property rights, illuminates the gaps between legal change and enforcement processes. The article also considers how and when a change in law can lead to social change. It is argued here that legal change in response to EU conditionalities may begin superficially, but creates an opportunity for collective action that can eventually lead to democratic change and a more robust enforcement of law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Customary law is an alternative legal framework to statute or public law. In the past, the existence of customary law was viewed as problematic due to the uncertainty which accompanies legal pluralism. Increasingly, scholars are recognizing legal pluralism as simply a reality to be negotiated, rather than a problem. One frequently proposed solution to the difficulties posed by the existence of customary law is to write it down, or ascertain it, in order to provide for legal certainty. This article addresses this goal in three parts. The first part describes customary law and how it functions in its uncodified form in post-colonial settings, specifically in Sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Asia. While customary law thrived under colonization, it merely survived socialism where it was often explicitly undermined. The second part of the article details the reasons why scholars and public officials have often suggested writing customary law down as a solution, and situates these arguments within the contemporary debate on legal pluralism. In the third section, a specific case of written customary law, the Albanian Kanun of Lekë Dukagjini, is analyzed with a focus on its modem usage in a post-socialist context. The paper concludes noting that ascertainment does not bring legal certainty to customary law in the ways that are anticipated. Writing down an oral tradition or a practice may produce a document for reference, but this does not limit its use nor necessarily increases the predictability of its application. The article also emphasizes the role of customary law in defining group identity in post-socialist settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]