Kosovo's justice system functioning - but concerns remain

PRISTINA, 9 November 2001 (OSCE) - The OSCE's latest report on Kosovo's justice system has called for assurances that international human rights standards will be met.

The report, the third in a series which has covered the evolution of the judicial system in Kosovo, focuses on specific areas: legal representation, detention, trafficking and sexually related crimes and the work of municipal and minor offences courts.

The report acknowledges that while there are still areas of concern "a functioning judicial system has been established and any emergency type situation is over. Therefore, compliance with international human rights standards should now be assured."

Among the areas of concern are:

• defence counsel have little time to prepare their case because they are frequently appointed only at the outset of the main hearing. Recommendations previously made by the OSCE to rectify these problems have not been implemented;
• extra judicial detention continues to be ordered by the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary General and by the NATO-led Kosovo Force (KFOR), under the authority of the KFOR Commander. The OSCE suggests that instead of using these extraordinary measures a mechanism to hear sensitive evidence within the criminal justice system should be established;
• the regulation criminalizing trafficking, promulgated earlier this year, has not been fully implemented. The OSCE suggests among other things, that a substantial training and awareness raising campaign should be undertaken and that a pool of Russian and Romanian interpreters should be hired and used whenever and wherever needed;
• breaches of human rights standards - including access to defence counsel, the right to a fair trial and the free assistance of an interpreter - are found in the minor offences and municipal courts. The activities of these courts should be reviewed with attention to international human rights law.

The OSCE is mandated with monitoring human rights in Kosovo, and it applies a human rights' perspective to its monitoring of the judicial system. This monitoring has been used in assisting United Nation Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMiK) to create a justice system which works and is striving towards international standards.

The OSCE is already working closely with UNMIK to deal with many of the issues raised in the latest report; both want to see a reformed, and unbiased, judicial system.