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The Rule of Law in Independent Kosovo

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The Rule of Law in Independent Kosovo THE RULE OF LAW IN INDEPENDENT KOSOVO Europe Report N°204 – 19 May 2010 TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS ................................................. i I. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................. 1 A. BACKGROUND ............................................................................................................................. 2 B. THE CRIME PROBLEM .................................................................................................................. 3 II. THE POLICE .................................................................................................................... 5 A. INVESTIGATIONS .......................................................................................................................... 8 B. OPERATIONS ................................................................................................................................. 9 C. INTERNAL MISCONDUCT AND CRIMES ........................................................................................ 10 III. THE JUDICIARY ........................................................................................................... 12 A. COURTS ...................................................................................................................................... 12 B. KOSOVO JUDICIAL COUNCIL ...................................................................................................... 15 C. PROSECUTORS ............................................................................................................................ 16 D. PROSECUTOR-POLICE RELATIONS .............................................................................................. 17 IV. NORTH KOSOVO .......................................................................................................... 18 A. CRIME ........................................................................................................................................ 19 B. COURTS ...................................................................................................................................... 19 C. POLICE ....................................................................................................................................... 21 V. CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................ 22 APPENDICES A. MAP OF KOSOVO ............................................................................................................................. 24 B. GLOSSARY OF TERMS ...................................................................................................................... 25 C. ABOUT THE INTERNATIONAL CRISIS GROUP .................................................................................... 26 D. CRISIS GROUP REPORTS AND BRIEFINGS ON ERUOPE SINCE 2007 .................................................... 27 E. CRISIS GROUP BOARD OF TRUSTEES ................................................................................................ 28 Europe Report N°204 19 May 2010 THE RULE OF LAW IN INDEPENDENT KOSOVO EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS More than two years after declaring independence, Koso- The police are one of Kosovo’s genuinely multi-ethnic in- vo struggles with uneven rule of law and a weak justice stitutions, with Serbs and others integrated in all regions system that is failing its citizens. The police, public pros- and at all levels. They have strong public support and a ecutors and courts are erratic performers, prone to politi- willing manpower pool but are poorly managed and lack cal interference and abuse of office. Organised crime and vital skills as their leadership increasingly neglects train- corruption are widespread and growing. Realising that ing. The force can deal effectively with routine, low-level prosperity, relations with the European Union (EU) and crime but has a limited ability to fight organised crime, affirmation as an independent state depend on the rule of financial crime and fraud, drugs and human trafficking law, the government has taken important steps, replacing and other specialised challenges. It has a hostile relation- key officials and passing long-delayed reforms. But criti- ship with the public prosecutors, who are charged with cal weaknesses remain, notably in the courts, and the gov- leading all police investigations of serious crime. The con- ernment, supported by the international community, must sequence is that the police do as they please, and the prose- act swiftly to curtail them. cutors are under-serviced and overwhelmed. Kosovo suffers from the widespread impression that it is The institutions that monitor the justice system – the run by a lawless political elite in control of every aspect Kosovo Judicial Council (KJC), which oversees judges, the of society. The EU rule of law mission, EULEX, is inves- Police Inspectorate of Kosovo (PIK), and the justice min- tigating widespread corruption at the highest levels, and istry, which supervises prosecutors – are not working prop- its efforts to date have shown gaping holes in regulation erly. The Council is paralysed by lengthy vacancies in key and enforcement. This reputation keeps investment out positions. Its components, notably the Office of Discipli- and the country mired in poverty. A two-pronged approach nary Counsel and the Judicial Audit, responsible for inves- is needed, tightening institutions and regulation to close tigating corruption and other problems in the courts, work off opportunities for corruption while investigating the well; still, their findings remain without effect because the worst of past abuses. full body cannot act. The ministry suffers from weak leader- ship and a lack of political support, though a new minister In some respects, Kosovo’s reputation for lawlessness is appointed in April 2010 is expected to improve performance. exaggerated. The country has a low rate of violent crime, inter-ethnic crime is rare, and Serbs in most of Kosovo The justice system’s weakness is visible above all in live securely. But the judicial system is weak. Few crimes Kosovo north of the Ibar River, the small Serb-held zone end with their perpetrators in prison. Court procedures that Serbia in effect controls. There is no real criminal suffer from widespread distrust, fearful or unwilling wit- justice in the North, as its Serbia-run courts cannot coop- nesses and shoddy work by prosecutors. On the civil law erate with the UN-mandated Kosovo Police (KP). Never- side, it is all but impossible for citizens and domestic and theless, the North’s crime levels are similar to those of international corporations to enforce their rights in court. Kosovo as a whole, and the small local population thrives Property disputes are widespread, and since they cannot on handouts from Belgrade. The border between Kosovo be reliably resolved in court, occasionally degenerate into and Serbia has become much better controlled recently, violence. The dysfunctional civil law system, choked and arrests, mainly in Serbia, have cut down drastically with a backlog of cases stretching back to 2000-2001, on smuggling. But the North remains a stumbling block scares off investment. Demoralised and exhausted judges in relations between Kosovo and Serbia and between both both struggle under the case backlog and are dogged by a of these and EULEX. Out of excessive caution, the EU reputation for corrupion and favouritism. Plaintiffs en- has not based its police in the North, leaving the area free dure baffling rounds of appeals, remands and delays, often for organised criminal gangs. Its efforts to replenish the featuring deliberate errors. Bribery and even violence have Mitrovica court with local judges have failed, while of- become attractive means of extrajudicial dispute resolution. fending both Pristina and Belgrade. The Rule of Law in Independent Kosovo Crisis Group Europe Report N°204, 19 May 2010 Page ii This report surveys the domestic legal system; a subse- 9. Mandate training for police and prosecutors in specia- quent report will cover international aspects of the rule of lised work on organised crime, drugs and human traf- law issue. ficking, financial crimes and counter-terrorism. 10. Establish urgently a database of crimes and cases, so RECOMMENDATIONS that police and prosecutors can work together and formulate an effective anti-crime strategy. To the President, Government and Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo: To the Government of the Republic of Serbia: 1. Support fully efforts to investigate high-level corrup- 11. Take steps to support strengthened rule of law in Ko- tion and prevent its recurrence. sovo, including 2. Adopt urgently the key framework laws for the judi- a) return all official documents, including cadastral cial system, including: and property records and court files taken in 1999; a) the laws on courts, prosecutors and the judicial b) support appointment of Serb judges under Kosovo and prosecutorial councils; and law; and b) the amended criminal code, code of criminal pro- c) cooperate with EULEX and Kosovo on develop- cedure and code of contested procedure. ing cross-border strategies to impede human traf- ficking and drug smuggling. 3. Appoint urgently the remaining members of the Kosovo Judicial Council. To the International Community in Kosovo: 4. Establish a high-level committee bringing together
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