IKD seeks more guarantee of Bureau independence, clearer criteria for property verification

Kosovo Institute for Justice (IKD) senior researcher Gzim Shala has raised concerns about the independence of the State Bureau for Verification and Confiscating of Inexcussive Riches, praising that the manner of electing its leaders does not provide sufficient guarantees for institutional independence.

During the presentation of the report “Inexcusable Property, Justified Justice”, Shala said the bill envisions that the Director General and members of the Supervisory Commission, who are elected by the Parliament, be appointed with the majority of deputies present and who vote.

According to him, such a standard may be acceptable to an ordinary administrative institution, but not to the Bureau, which will exercise competence with significant legal, economic and personal consequences.

Shala stressed that electing leaders with the minimum parliamentary majority increases the risk of the Bureau being perceived as a political majority-dependent institution.

That's why, The IKD recommends that the Director General and members of the Supervisor Commission be elected at least with the majority of all Parliament deputies.

Shala also talked about provisions regulating property verification, assessing that, although the bill has brought improvements in determining the period of verification, it still contains significant uncertainty.

According to him, the bill does not clearly specify what wealth “implies in large measure higher” than legal revenues.

He said the lack of a definite threshold of methodology and measurable criteria gives the Bureau a very broad space of assessment, enabling similar cases to be handled differently, depending on the interpretation of the law. /Periscope/