Non implementation of the Brussels agreement on the judiciary is a major problem for the Serb community in Kosovo. This was said during a public discussion organized by the Advocacy Center for Democratic Culture (ACDC) in North Mitrovica.
Judge Jelena Krivokapić said that she and her colleagues do not have any information about the date of the beginning of functioning of an integrated justice. She also said that nobody tells them anything, that they do not know the reasons for it and that they work with reduced capacity.
Krivokapić stated that the consequences of delaying the implementation of the Brussels agreement on the judiciary are very serious and that citizens are the most affected. She further explained that the fact that there are two legal systems, Serbian and Kosovo one, causes additional costs for the people, and they don’t know where to exercise their rights.
Dušan Radaković from ACDC said that the consequence is also no access to justice, and noted that there are 80 000 unsolved cases in the Mitrovica Basic Court.
-This is a big problem. The court was dislocated to Vučitrn and the citizens have a big problem to go 15 km in one direction because of the security, and some cases related to the Serb community have been moved from Vučitrn to Srbica, which is an even bigger problem, Radaković emphasized.
He also has cited a problem with property issues, pointing out that many displaced persons do not even know that they have open cases in Kosovo courts.
-The integration of the judiciary that is interrupted is a major problem for the Serb community living here, Radaković emphasized.
The discussion that has been held yesterday in North Mitrovica Civic Energy Centre (CEC) was part of the project “Consequences of postponing the integration of the judiciary – the situation and perspectives”. The media partner on the project is Kontakt Plus radio and the project was supported by the Kosovo Foundation for an Open Society (KFOS).
