Bill for Kosovo Prosecutorial Council adopted amid objections

The Commission, in addition, reviewed the report with amendments to the Law on Change and Fulfilling the Law for the Kosovo Prosecutorial Council.

Despite opposition MPs' objections, the Commission approved the amendment to the 08/L-249 Bill for amending and completing the Law for the Kosovo Prosecutorial Council.

President Adnan Rrustemi has said that this bill has been worked with maximum objectives and open discussion with anyone associated with it.

“E has adopted the model of electing judges to the Constitutional Court in the Special Commission that makes the Assembly the composition of representatives of independent institutions that will have the responsibility of selecting the recommendation of the members' session, not prosecutors. We've handled it with the maximum objective and open discussion with anyone associated with it. This may be a completely different form of adjustment, but that the effort has been sincere to bring a report of”, Rrustem said.

Democratic League of Kosovo deputy Driton Selmanaj was opposed to being voted into the Bill. According to him, this Bill has much room for violating the recommendations of the Venice Commission.

“im into the situation that has a particularly drastic change of composition. The government has proposed 19 members of the Prosecutorial Council. You've reduced them to seven which makes a drastic change in government. On the other hand, I'm not saying you've done a lot of work, maybe you've worked, you've lost your energy, you've worked on it, I see that I have my dilemmas if the Venice Commission's recommendations are especially addressed. I think there's a lot of room to breach the recommendations of the Venice Commission. And I can't vote for that. I will vote against”, Selmanaj has indicated.

The deputy and chairman of the Commission, Adnan Rrusem, has provided clarification, stressing that Kosovo on the basis of its number of prosecutors, which are 19, is very high. According to him through the working group as the Parliament as the Commission in relation to the Venice Commission, we have returned to number 7.

The number in the first bill has been low, but the Constitutional Court has found the prosecutor's report a member coming from the ombudsman. They're not in accordance with the Constitution. The second effort has been through increasing the number of members in the Prosecutorial Council to respond to this need for ensuring pluralism, but the Venice Commission has considered on the basis of Kosovo's population. On the basis of the number of prosecutors that Kosovo has, the number of 19 members is very high, therefore through the working group as the Parliament as the Commission, in relation to the Venice Commission we have returned to the number 7”, Rrustemi has said.

AAK deputy Besnik Tahiri was also opposed to voting this bill, and he values it as a delay.

My first “Constitution as the Parliament and in this case as Government we have lost a long time of co-operation when the opinion of the Venice Commission has been given in relation to violations, the defects this Law has seen before issues that need to be regulated. We've been losing too long to see the increase in the number of eight prosecutors who are not part of the prosecution. It has been a serious tendency to an independent constitutional politicisation. Let's not ask for Saturday eight prosecutors who are prosecution prosecutors, but the total number of 19 is dropping to 7 for me is a big question of why it's happening. With these problems I can't vote. Even the assessment is delayed”, Tahiri said.

Similar thoughts shared by the MP The PDK, Hajdar Beqa, who said it does not support this bill and as the PDK will see whether there are elements to send it back to the Constitutional Court.

The Venice Commission saw something, the recommendations some said they could for good, but it wasn't seen wanting with a form of the Procuial Council under control. Then I'll get my number back. You have 3 prosecutors and 3 prosecutors do not honor the Council because we are talking about prosecutors of all levels. It's not well harmonised. As the PDK in this phase, we do not support this Law. We'll see if there are elements sent back to the Constitutional Court. We will analyze it under the political subject, we will not support either the Commission or the plenary session”, Beqa has indicated.