” There is a decline in the productivity of” judicial sessions , E ULEX exits report

EULEX Unit Chief for Monitoring the Cases, Hubert van Eck Koster, during the report's presentation, said that handling high profile cases has not marked any real progress.

He called for Kosovo judicial authorities to analyse and review that in high profile cases, adequate revision has been made, proper judgment and procedure and material rights have been implemented.

As a positive development, he said it has been that some of the remaining cases in Mitrovica's basic court have been transferred to Pristina.

“As far as the productivity of sessions has been concerned, there has been less progress in the last two years than we had previously expected”, he said.

According to him in September 2022, May 20,24 230 of the 821 monitoring sessions have been counterproductive, showing that 28 percent of the sessions have been counterproductive.

Kosovo Police Director Gazmend Hoxha said Kosovo Police have consistently considered reports published by EULEX. He said that during EULEX research work, the entity and KP officials have been consistently co-operative and promised that this co-operation would continue further.

For us this report is especially important from the view of methodology that has been used for drafting and processing it. In this context, an assessment is made of the functioning of the entire chain of criminal justice from the police phase of the prosecution's then handling cases until the outcome of cases in court decisions”, Hoxha said.

He added that important for the Kosovo Police is the final result of the selection of subjects because the work of the police is thus estimated.

EULEX chief in Kosovo Giovanni Pietro Barbano has presented the fourth public justice monitoring report of 2020-2022, where he has made assessment of Kosovo's criminal and civil justice system and provided concrete recommendations aimed at empowering rule of law and harmonisation with human rights.

According to him, the findings of the reports are based on rigorous monitoring of more than 300 cases, as well as data collected through a broad co-operation with Kosovo institutions, including Police, Judicial and Civil Society.

The “in addition to presentations and monitoring findings in this report have offered numerous recommendations for law rule institutions in order to support a better fulfillment with Kosovo's legal framework and international standards for human rights. This year's report is not just a summary of the findings for the testimony to the path of Kosovo's judicial system. The report focuses on the assessment of our previous recommendations by highlighting areas where progress has been noted and drawing attention to critical shortcomings that continue to exist”, Barbano said.

He further spoke about the history of EULEX's commitment, where, according to him since 2008, he has been on an advisory and mentoring mission where he has co-operated closely with Kosovo institutions, including the aspects of police to increase their stability, independence and transparency.

This evolution, according to Barbano, reflects the EU's comprehensive vision where the first local ownership is the cornerstone of long-term reforms. For Kosovo, long-term reforms imply building a judicial system that is accounting for its citizens and aggressive periods.

“since 2018 E ULEX has released 6 monitoring reports of justice, where the first three are exclusively divided with judicial organs and with institutions responsible for rule of law. Starting in 2020, we have made our reports public to inform and invite broader participation by Kosovo citizens and its civil society, knowing that the path to EU integration and rule of law must be inclusive and engage all sectors of society”, Barbano said.

EULEX monitoring pillar chief Giovanni Galzignato said EULEX reports aim to help Kosovo institutions achieve better fulfillment in laws with Kosovo laws and standards for human rights.

Reports have assessed specific aspects concerning the operation of the entire chain of justice”, Galzignato said.

Galzignato added that report EULEX has monitored more than 300 selected cases of police, prosecution and courts.

According to him, the report'smatic theme included dealing with various types of criminal acts, such as corruption, gender-based violence, crimes according to international law, as well as the assessment of implementation in other areas.

He said each chapter of the report contains preliminary collections, an assessment of their implementation and then a conclusion.