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Recommendations

To the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK)

Office of the SRSG

  • Reaffirm publicly the need to achieve progress on accountability in Kosovo, particularly for political violence, attacks on minorities, and war crimes.

  • Conduct a full review of the progress toward accountability through the criminal justice system since 1999, including but not limited to crimes with an ethnic or political dimension, and war crimes. Based on the results of the review, undertake serious reorganization and reform to structures and operational procedures, including consideration of efforts to consolidate the courts and mandate the use of case management systems.

  • Determine, in collaboration with the UNMIK Department of Justice and the OSCE, whether a special court or chamber within one of the existing courts is necessary to give priority to serious or sensitive cases—including those involving an ethnic or political dimension and war crimes. Ensure that any proposals take into consideration the resources and personnel required.

  • Develop an action plan with a timetable, in collaboration with the international and national police and prosecutors, and Department of Justice, to establish a judicial police branch to work directly with investigative prosecutors in the investigation of criminal cases, as required under the law. The action plan should include intensive theoretical and field-based training components for police and prosecutors.

  • Ensure that international and national prosecutors are sufficiently trained in their new role as investigative prosecutors, and on effective collaboration with the new judicial police branch.

  • Take immediate steps, in collaboration with the UNMIK Department of Justice, UNMIK Police and KPS, the OSCE, and the PISG Ministry of Justice to reinvigorate and improve upon existing witness protection programs in Kosovo, including legislative amendments and the adoption of new protocols where necessary.

  • Continue to work with member states of the European Union and other governments to establish a sustainable mechanism for witness relocation.

  • Restore the Ombudsperson Institution’s mandate to cover the functioning of international bodies and institutions operating in Kosovo, in recognition of the value of external and independent monitoring and review capacities.

UNMIK Department of Justice

  • Immediately reevaluate the Department’s strategy for addressing accountability for crimes, including war crimes and ethnic violence, by completing a comprehensive assessment of current efforts to establish a functioning criminal justice system, and communicating to the highest levels of the international administration its resource, staffing, and other needs.

  • Work with the Office of the SRSG and the OSCE to determine whether there is a need for a special court or chamber to give priority to serious or sensitive cases—including those involving an ethnic or political dimension and war crimes.

  • Prioritize the creation of an effective witness protection system for Kosovo, including updating staff training on the current law and practice and directly addressing with the Office of the SRSG and the police any gaps and/or concerns in the implementation of witness protection measures the Department has observed during the course of its monitoring, investigative, and prosecutorial work.

  • Liaise with the Contact Group and E.U. governments and the ICTY for concrete assistance in developing an effective witness protection system.

  • Develop, in collaboration with UNMIK Police and KFOR, a practical strategy for securing evidence and testimony from military and civilian personnel who have left Kosovo.

  • In cooperation with the Office of the SRSG, the PISG Department of Judicial Administration, the OSCE, and the PISG Ministry of Justice and Kosovo Judicial Council, publicly clarify future arrangements for monitoring and oversight of the national judiciary. The arrangements should take into account the new law on the Ministry of Justice and the creation of the Kosovo Judicial Council and the phasing out of international involvement in the judicial system. A realistic assessment of the capacities currently available within existing institutions to conduct detailed oversight of the courts’ work must be undertaken as part of this coordination and review effort.

  • Develop concrete programs for collaboration between national and international prosecutors and judges, aimed at ending their segregated functioning, and improving professional standards among national prosecutors and judges.

  • Prioritize implementation of the investigative responsibilities for prosecutors and the police under the criminal procedure code.

  • Conduct an outreach and public information campaign, in collaboration with the PISG, the OSCE, and national justice system, to ensure that the public is aware of the outcome of important cases, may access overall statistics on conviction rates, and understands whom to approach with information about investigations or prosecutions, and that members of the public are able to obtain information on the status of cases in which they are a party or witness.

OSCE Mission in Kosovo

  • Provide input to the Department of Justice and the Office of the SRSG on the issue of whether a special court or chamber is needed to give priority to serious or sensitive cases—including those involving an ethnic or political dimension and war crimes. If the need for such a court or chamber is identified, advise on its structure and requirements, based on the OSCE’s ongoing judicial systems monitoring experience throughout the former Yugoslavia.

  • Collaborate with the UNMIK Department of Justice, UNMIK Police and KPS, and the PISG Ministry of Justice, to ensure the development of an effective witness protection system in Kosovo.

  • Conduct further training, including field-based training, for prosecutors in their new role as investigative prosecutors. Work with the Kosovo Judicial Institute on developing more effective training, including joint police-prosecutor trainings where feasible. Facilitate the identification and provision of expert trainers and lecturers for the Kosovo Judicial Institute, including from outside Kosovo.

  • Ensure that the mission’s monitoring mandate is not compromised by its capacity-building activities, by creating a clear division between responsible departments, ensuring autonomy for the OSCE Legal Systems Monitoring Section, and making its findings public in a timely fashion.

  • Consider further efforts to support intensive on-the-job training and capacity-building for independent nongovernmental human rights monitors to help ensure effective long-term monitoring of international and national justice initiatives in Kosovo.

To the Kosovo Police Service (KPS), UNMIK Police, and the PISG Ministry of Internal Affairs

  • Demonstrate a coordinated and clear commitment to achieving accountability for serious crime in Kosovo, including for abuses committed between 1998 and 2000.

  • Establish a public outreach mechanism so that reliable information on the progress of investigations is available. This information should be timely, comprehensive and transparent.

  • Develop a joint strategy for further coordination between KPS and UNMIK Police for the conduct of investigations, including regular and transparent reporting channels on cases between municipal stations and with headquarters.

  • As a matter of investigative policy, take steps to be more proactive in investigations.

  • Take concerted steps toward the creation of a KPS judicial police branch that works directly with prosecutors on the investigations of criminal cases in accordance with the criminal procedure code.

  • Carry out training to ensure that officers are properly trained in their new role to support the investigations by prosecutors, and conduct regular assessment in coordination with the UNMIK Department of Justice, the OSCE, Kosovo Judicial Institute, the PISG Ministry of Justice and the national prosecutorial offices, to evaluate progress.

  • Evaluate, in collaboration with the OSCE, the UNMIK Department of Justice, and Office of the SRSG, existing witness protection measures in Kosovo with an eye toward addressing witness intimidation obstacles for the long term. Take necessary steps to reinvigorate and/or reform current protocols, including measures to ensure that situations of witness intimidation are taken seriously and dealt with swiftly and publicly.

  • Work with the Ministry of Justice and the UNMIK Department of Justice to develop a strategy for ensuring that personnel have handed over necessary evidence or given official testimony prior to their departure from the mission. An additional strategy needs to be developed to address the failure to have secured this evidence or testimony once the departure has taken place.

  • The office of the UNMIK Police commissioner should carry out an investigation into the role of the KPS and UNMIK Police in bringing to justice those responsible for crimes committed during March 2004, including where offences were alleged to have been committed by KPS officers.

  • The KPS professional standards unit should give regular public updates on the status of investigations into allegations of police misconduct during the March 2004 riots.

To the PISG Ministry of Justice

  • Affirm the importance of achieving progress on accountability through criminal prosecutions for all crimes, including war crimes, ethnically-motivated crime, and “ordinary” crime.

  • Collaborate with the UNMIK Department of Justice, the Kosovo Judicial Council, the OSCE, UNMIK Police and KPS to ensure the development of an effective witness protection system in Kosovo.

  • Establish a central computerized caseload management system for all courts in Kosovo, in consultation with judges, prosecutors, the PISG Department of Judicial Administration, the Kosovo Judicial Council, and the UNMIK Department of Justice.

  • Take immediate steps, in association with the UNMIK Department of Justice, the PISG Department of Judicial Administration, the Kosovo Judicial Council, and the court system, toward implementing a centralized database system of final verdicts, accessible to the public in either electronic or bound report format. A standard procedure for the public to request (and receive) information on cases should be established and widely publicized so that it is an accessible public information tool.

  • Clarify with the Office of the Prosecutor the arrangements for case management and supervision over prosecutors’ offices.

  • Develop, in consultation with the Office of the Prosecutor and the UNMIK Department of Justice, procedures for the regular sharing of information between prosecutors, including between international and national prosecutors, and the development of standard protocol.

  • Ensure the provision of ongoing training for judges on sentencing, in cooperation with the Kosovo Judicial Institute and the OSCE, including application of sentencing guidelines. Regularly review sentencing practices for consistency with guidelines, and refresh training as required.

  • Ensure that prosecutors receive additional training, in cooperation with the Kosovo Judicial Institute and the OSCE, particularly as regards their role as investigative prosecutors. Regularly review their work and refresh training as required.

  • Carry out an evaluation to determine whether consolidation of the number of courts in Kosovo would deliver a more efficient justice system and facilitate monitoring of its operation.

To the Office of the Prosecutor

  • Clarify the hierarchy and functioning of the prosecutorial offices in Kosovo and the work of individual prosecutors to facilitate effective case management and oversight.

  • Mandate the participation of all prosecutors in training on their role as investigative prosecutors in the new system, ensuring in collaboration with the Kosovo Judicial Institute and the OSCE that the training includes field-based and joint police/prosecutorial aspects.

  • Develop in collaboration with the UNMIK Department of Justice opportunities for the sharing of best practices between prosecutors—national to national and national to international.

  • Conduct an outreach campaign to attract greater numbers of candidates to train as prosecutors, with support from the Ministry of Justice, universities, and legal aid and reform organizations. Consider for example the creation and implementation of an internship program for law students.

To the Kosovo Judicial Council

  • Affirm the importance of achieving progress on accountability through criminal prosecutions for all crimes, including war crimes, ethnically-motivated crime, and “ordinary” crime.

  • Collaborate with the UNMIK Department of Justice, the OSCE, UNMIK Police and KPS to ensure the development of an effective witness protection system in Kosovo.

  • Establish, and ensure the implementation of, a central computerized case management system for all courts in Kosovo, in consultation with judges, prosecutors, the PISG Department of Judicial Administration, the PISG Ministry of Justice, and the UNMIK Department of Justice.

  • Work with the UNMIK Department of Justice, the PISG Department of Judicial Administration, and the courts toward implementing a centralized database system of final verdicts, accessible to the public in either electronic or bound report format. A standard procedure for the public to request (and receive) information on cases should be established and widely publicized so that it is an accessible public information tool.

  • Mandate the participation of all judges in continuing education on criminal law topics, including sentencing and developments as regards the new criminal procedure code and criminal code. Regularly review sentencing practices for consistency with guidelines and appropriate application of the law, and refresh training as required.

  • Standardize communication and reporting so that information provided on the caseload and disposal of cases in the courts facilitates the Council’s task of overseeing the work of the courts.

  • Assess, in collaboration with UNMIK and the PISG Ministry of Justice, whether consolidation of the number of courts in Kosovo would deliver a more efficient justice system and facilitate monitoring of its operation.

To the Provisional Institutions of Self-Government

  • Prioritize the achievement of measurable accountability for crime.

  • High-level government officials should publicly support police and prosecutorial efforts to achieve success in solving serious, political, and inter-ethnic crime, including by emphasizing the duty of members of the public to cooperate with such investigations and prosecutions as part of their civic responsibilities.

  • Cooperate fully with the efforts by the Office of the SRSG, the UNMIK Department of Justice, UNMIK Police, and KPS, to establish an effective witness protection system.

  • Support the further development of the judicial system, including through the allocation of necessary funds for a centralized database, judicial and prosecutorial training and recruitment, and outreach.

To the Contact Group and the European Union

  • Ensure that a functioning criminal justice system, including accountability for violence against minorities and war crimes, is accepted by all parties as integral to the successful resolution of Kosovo’s status.

  • Ensure that the E.U. Planning Team for the Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo includes a specific focus on accountability for inter-ethnic violence, including March 2004-related cases, and war crimes as part of its overall focus on the functioning of the criminal justice system.

  • Ensure that UNMIK and its implementing partners, including the newly established Ministries of Justice and Internal Affairs, have the necessary material and political support for the mid-to-long-term to achieve their justice and policing goals.

  • The European Union should condition ongoing financial support to the criminal justice system to observable improvements in policing, prosecutions, and the work of the courts. Regular progress reports from the U.N. and PISG should be supplemented by E.U. auditing and evaluation.

  • Provide the material support necessary to enable the creation of an effective system for witness relocation and protection, including by making a public commitment to relocate witnesses from Kosovo.

  • Provide the necessary financial and political support to ensure that international civilian and military personnel who have left Kosovo are able to give evidence in criminal proceedings in Kosovo either in person or by video-link.

To the International Community at Large

  • Take every opportunity to address the concerns described in this report, including by emphasizing, in all bilateral and multilateral dialogues on Kosovo, the importance of a functioning criminal justice system and accountability for political violence, attacks on minorities, and war crimes.



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