EULEX: high profile review rate remains slow

EULEX has noted a positive trend in hearing hearings in courts it has monitored, with an apparent increase in productive hearing sessions against non-productive ones. While the pace of reviewing high profile cases which were previously handled by EULEX remains generally slow.

So it was said on the occasion of presenting the EULEX report to representatives of Kosovo institutions for rule of law with findings from monitoring cases.

EULEX's information office through a communiqué on Friday has also revealed the prosperity of the meeting and what was said there.

Thus, it is announced that during the presentation of the findings of this report, the head of the Case Monitoring Unit, Hwbert van Eck Koster, has said EULEX has noted a positive trend through hearing sessions in courts it has monitored, with an apparent increase in productive hearing sessions against non-productive ones. Commenting on the pace of reviewing high profile cases which were previously handled by EULEX, Van Eck Koster stressed that it “generally remains slow”.

During the presentation of this report, it was. EULEX chief Bernd Thran has said that the sharp monitoring of selected cases has proved to be an effective tool for assessing the compliance of the domestic justice system with Kosovo legislation and human rights standards.

The “work of this mission in this area is triple: first, we identify the trends and phenomena that affect the functioning of the judiciary; secondly, we give recommendations which are included in the report and third, where possible, design and implement projects based on the gaps identified to address these findings. An example of this is the recently organised seminar for empowering the capacities of special prosecutors and legal officials for prosecuting terrorism cases”, he has said.

According to him, it is important that EULEX continues to work side by side with Kosovo institutions on rule of law because they have the same goal: making the justice system accessible to everyone and reliable for citizens.

The findings of this report have praised the head of the Kosovo Judiciary Council, Skender Cocaj, who has stressed the importance of the fact that the report also included concrete recommendations for the way the challenges remain.

This is a good report. According to the findings involved, there is reportedly progress”, Chocaj said.

EULEX's Case Monitoring Unit makes assessing the functioning of Kosovo's judiciary in terms of procedural, legal and human rights compliance. The assessment is carried out through systematic and thematic monitoring of selected criminal and civil cases, including high profile cases and cases previously handled by EULEX. This mission monitors the entire chain of criminal justice system, at the level of police, prosecution and judiciary respectively.

Meanwhile, the report presented today included a number of direct recommendations for advancing Kosovo's prosecutorial system.