Civil code is soon prosecuted in Government and later in the Assembly

That's what they say about Radio Kosovo from the Ministry of Justice, though they don't specify time or if it will change the article that allows the record of “civil co-ordination” between persons of the same gender. Lawyers say the Civil Code should be adopted without delay further.

Although regarded as a document of special and much needed importance for Kosovo in March 2022, Kosovo Assembly deputies, including some parliamentary majority, did not give the green light to the adoption of the Civil Code draft. During the review in principle, the main differences were linked to Article 1138, which would enable the drafting of a special law through which the record of “civil co-ordination” would be allowed among persons of the same gender.

After failing to approve the Civil Code Project, Government and Vetevendosje Movement had pledged that this would be reviewed again during 2022. That did not happen, despite what Vetevendosje MP Mimoza Kusari-Lila had said on August 8th.

The answer is yes. Both will be treated at the autumn session. The civil code is designed to be forwarded to Government and come to the Assembly, I am hoping in the first weeks of the year's session, as we have indicators from the Justice Ministry”, she said.

Radio Kosovo has asked the Ministry of Justice when it is expected to be sent to the Civil draft Assembly, and whether its Article 1138 will be changed.

The Civil Code “is a priority for the Justice Ministry and of particular importance to the legal system in Kosovo. Soon, the completed Civil Code, with all addresses being processed for approval in Government and later at the Kosovo Assembly”, says the response of the Office for Public Communication at the Ministry of Justice.

Justice lawyer Ehat Miftaraj, from the Kosovo Institute for Justice, says he takes on the importance of adopting the Civil Code, it should be approved as soon as possible in the Assembly.

It is pointless that the Civil Code will not be sent to the Assembly for approval as soon as possible so that a pledge Kosovo has had also in its Progress Report can be fulfilled. So, we see that, with the very fact that Government has carried it for the second half of the year, in some way shows that it is afraid to send the same one back to the Assembly, as there appears to be no consensus within ruling party deputies to support it with a vote of”, Miftaraj said.

In March of last year, among those who voted against the Government-sponsored Civil Code were several deputies of the Vetevendosje Movement and of non-party communities.