Apostolova request for justice minister

Also at this meeting were Justice Minister (MD) Abelard Tahiri, Kosovo Judiciary Council Chairman (KGJK), Nehat Idrizi, EU Office chief/EU Special Representative to Kosovo Natalia Apostova and Kosovo Law Rule Mission leader (EULEX) Aleksandra Papadopoulos.

Chief Isufaj welcomed the meeting of the Joint Co-ordination Board for the Rule of the Law, praising the Board as a mechanism where the challenges of the justice system are discussed, the possibilities for their solution are provided, and the work on their solution is forwarded and monitored. He said that the importance of this board lies in the collection of key domestic and international institutions for rule of law. Chief Isufaj once again reiterated his and KPK readiness to continue and deepen co-operation with all local and international partners of justice system institutions, with the goal of establishing the efficiency, transparency and accountability of this system.

In the quality of the leaders of this meeting and since the Board held its last meeting for this year, the chairman Isufaj presented a review of key points discussed at the Board meetings held during 2017 and progress achieved.

Judiciary 

Chief Isufaj also spoke of the process of integrating the justice system in northern Kosovo, integration made under the Brussels Justice Agreement. He said that during this year the integration of 13 prosecutors and 33 administrative staff of the community, not the majority, has been made successfully.

Headmistress Idrizi praised the process of integration in the north, which runs as a result of the Brussels Justice Agreement. Integration of the Judiciary in the north has been successfully completed, where 41 judges and 107 civil servants from the non- majority community have been appointed throughout the Kosovo judiciary.

K The JSK has made maximum efforts to provide as well as possible working conditions in order to build professional capacities. In co-operation with the Academy of Justice, training has been organised for these judges, and currently judges from the non-majorial community are attending the training in the criminal post at the Academy of Justice.

Minister of Justice, Mr. Abelard Tahiri stressed that implementation of the Justice Agreement has successfully ended as one of the main achievements of this year. As a result, the unitary justice system has finally been established, functioning justice institutions in the northern part and ensuring rule of law throughout the territory of the Republic of Kosovo.

The Agency of the European Reformation

EU Office/EU Special Representative Natalia Apostolova praised the efforts of Kosovo institutions for rule of Law this year. Apostolova urged Kosovo authorities to implement the remaining 2016 Report on Kosovo recommendations of the European Commission in its part of governing the judiciary, as well as short and medium-term priorities of the European Reforms Agency.

“The review and adoption of legislation that makes the suspension mandatory -- the removal of indicted and convicted public officials respectively -- is a priority Kosovo authorities pledged to meet within the European Reforms Agency”, Apostolova said. “Encourage the inclusion of the legal provisions required in the Penal Code and Criminal Procedure Code to make this possible”.

Mr. Abelard Tahiri briefed those in attendance according to the BPBSL agenda on the European Integrity Agency (ARE), the Ministry of Justice within its competencies has successfully fulfilled all obligations emerging from the ARE and identified in the Country Report for 2016.

BPBSL Guides

Mission Chief E ULEX, Alexander Papadopoulos, made the announcement of the four BPBSL Guides drafted by EULEX in close co-operation with local counterparts and BPBSL leaders. Each guide is a technical action plan and contains concrete steps that Kosovo's rule of law institutions must take to ensure stability of the capacities of local institutions after the gradual conclusion of EULEX.

“Guide for the Institute of Legal Medicine (IML) focuses on the technical criteria that must be met deliberately for the IML to become an independent institution, as defined in the Law on Legal Medicine. Some of the criteria involve finalising secondary legislation, establishing the appropriate laboratory for analysis of toxicology, and intensifying internal capacity building. Guide to the Special Chamber of the Supreme Court ( DPS) focuses on improving the performance of the Chamber and changing current DPS legislation to better and more efficiently on current and future challenges, and to establish mechanisms that would monitor possible elements of organised crime within privatisation and the return of the” judicial processes, Papadopoulos said.

She stressed that the third guide concerns the final judgment of cases related to lost property during the conflict. On the Guide to the College of Ankes for The AKP is determined the conditions needed for establishing college efficiency. In addition, this guide provides for establishing the mechanism for mutual judicial assistance ( implemented by P The SEU, which will ensure the submission of decisions and convictions to parties living in Serbia.

The guide for war crimes cases envisions preparing the National Strategy and Action Plan for the work Kosovo authorities do towards resolving war crimes cases in order to ensure justice for victims and their families.

“EULEX called on Kosovo institutions to continue with taking concrete steps towards ensuring greater responsibility for building and maintaining the independent and efficient system of rule of law”, Papadopoulos stressed. She thanked everyone for their contributions to the Guides, who will begin to apply from January 2018.

The justice minister informed those present that special attention has been given to the Guides as a means of conveying the progress noted in these areas of rule of law. More specifically, Minister Tahiri presented more extensively the Ministry of Justice's contribution and comments regarding the four areas identified in the Guide.

Challenges

As for the challenges the Kosovo Prosecutorial Council still faces, despite the progress achieved in eliminating them, leader Isufaj cited the insufficient budget and small number of personnel as the main ones.