Law against discrimination: Government says it is being implemented, Duda Balje and Populite Lawyer say no

The Parliamentary Commission for Human Rights today has discussed its failure to implement the Law for Protection from Discrimination.

The ombudsman's institution has considered that the authorities, which are obliged to enforce this law, have not implemented it at all, even non-legal acts.

And from the Office for Good Governance say the pre-law regulation is drafted and is being implemented.

The executive does not consider that this law should be changed or a new one created, according to them accountability and responsibility are needed by institutions that must apply the law in question.

Commission for Human Rights Chairman Duda Balje said that this law entered the top list of three laws that have not been implemented.

She said that she expects from this meeting to see how they will act against the Law for protection from discrimination.

 We've been talking about this law many times since 2015, just how much information we have, just an administrative guide is planned, but it doesn't come to an end, so we think and how much we have fedback, from the ground that law enforcement is very bad, it's in three balls of laws, which are not being respected in the Kosovo system at all. Even from Kosovo's judicial system, we have the same feedback (re response) and we think that something should be done either change the law, or we change the activity we have on the ground”, she stressed.

Ombudsman Naim Celaj said all authorities have failed to implement the Law for Protection from Discrimination.

According to him, this law, besides one regulation, is not enriched with other underground acts.

 “We have presented as a problem implementing this law, lack of sublegal acts, the law was passed in 2015 now in 2022, and so far on the basis of information that we can see that it is within the framework of the Law for Protection from Discrimination, only one regulation has been drafted, regulation related to institutional mechanisms in the application of this law, and no other sublegal act envisioned in this law has been approved. We have also noted a lot of uncertainty about the authority that he issued, pronounces and executes sanctions according to the provisions of the counter-inference that this law envisions, then the non-compliance of this law with the Law on Conflict Procedure, the lack of recognition of the Law's fact of protection from discrimination is a special law on issues involving discrimination... We consider that the authorities in general have failed to implement this law under the goal for which it has been adopted, and Kosovo citizens today have difficulty realizing their rights, which stem from this law and which should be protected”, he said.

Meanwhile, the director of the Office for Good Governance under the Office of Prime Minister Habit Hajredini agreed that Kosovo citizens at every level face discrimination.

While it has shown that with articles that are defined as executive, they have been arranged for institutional mechanisms at the local and central level, and which, as he said, is being implemented.

Hajredin said he does not see the need to make changes to this law. According to him, action is needed in action by institutions that have responsibility towards the Law for Protection From Discrimination.

“Article 10 and 11 requires only the extraction of a regulation for institutional mechanisms at the central and local level, and that has been realised, has entered into force and is being implemented, the moment the law automatically went into effect... You don't foresee any other underground acts that belong to Article 10 and 11 executive has been accomplished and is working on, and we're working on implementation and capacity growth. What we're currently working on in co-operation with the Council of Europe we've set up a framework that's called the Creniza All-involved Monoiturees, for implementation of this law has become a big deal in the extraction of 42 indicators of this law that they expect and this framework has become final and now we're waiting to be working with all structures at the central and local level to introduce these 42 indicators... Institutions have to take responsibility, each one of them has responsibilities, but it's not the idea to change laws every four years, we've had the first law since 2004 that has entered into force, we've completed, we've changed it now, according to the work we do as Government don't see that we need to change especially for articles that are under the executive framework, but it's about taking action into implementation<1>, he said.

The head of the Agency for Gender Equality, Edi Gusia, said that for the implementation of this law, responsibility and institutional accountability, institutions that must implement it.

It objects to the creation or amendment of the Law for Protection from Discrimination, since it considers that if it goes with this logic then it will always have to be drafted and benefits from law will not be enjoyed by citizens.

Seven years for one law is very little, and it's unfortunately after a long experience with these mechanisms. The automatism law legislation does not bring about law enforcement, law enforcement, and institutional responsibility and institutional accountability to all institutions that are obliged to enforce the law because if we go to the logic that every time the law is not implemented, then we will be in permanent procedures to draft laws without looking at citizens' benefits from law”, she said.

While the Legal Office co-ordinator near the Office of Prime Minister, Agron Gashi, said they have purposed this year to make an assessment of the Law for Protection from Discrimination to see the shortcomings of this law.

 The question of why illegal acts have not been issued for this law is known that to reveal sublegal acts is under the specific basis in the law, it's just Article 11 that forces the government to issue regulations for institutional mechanisms for protection from discrimination in government and municipality, and this regulation was issued in 2017... This year we have to make an existing assessment of this law, the exchange assessment is made for laws that are 1 or 2 years old and are seen where the shortcomings of this law are, he said.

The Commission for Human Rights, Gender Equality, for Ungenerated Persons, Victims of Sex Violence of War and Petition today has also met with representatives of the company's employees “19 June” in Podujevo over the claim of the incomplete distribution of personal income from the AKP.