Challenges to the inclusion of Serb official documents in Kosovo’s civil registry and the integration of Serb parallel structures into Kosovo’s justice system were discussed on Thursday in BIRN’s #DebateforReal which was funded by UNMIK.
Judges, lawyers, government officials and citizens gathered in North Mitrovica to discuss the proper implementation of the Agreement on Justice reached in Brussels between Kosovo and Serbia in 2016, which foresees the integration of institutions in the northern part of Kosovo into the Kosovo justice system.
Citizens attending the debate also raised their personal problems with this system to the panelists, explaining the challenges of equipping themselves with official documents from Kosovo, and having the same documents in the Serbian parallel system for many years after the war.
Enver Peci, President of the Supreme Court of Kosovo, as well as a judge from Mitrovica, said that the main problem is the finalized integration of the new court system in North Mitrovica but, nevertheless, according to him, there has been progress in resolving the cases.
According to him, one problem in this process is the lack of preparation of professional staff for translation of legal documents from Serbian into Albanian and vice versa.
Lavdim Krasniqi, director of the Kosovo Prosecutorial Council Secretariat, said they have managed to equalize the number of Serbian and Albanian prosecutors and are trying to do the same with the number of translators.
According to Krasniqi, they are trying to secure more translators, as the nine that they currently have is not sufficient.
Blerim Camaj, Director of the Civil Registration Agency, stated that since 2018 every citizen registered in parallel structures is entitled to be provided with all necessary documentation at the Office of Civil Registration.
Camaj also said that the municipalities in the north failed to accomplish their tasks as required because they have not recruited enough staff.
Milica Andric-Rakic, a journalist from the KoSSev portal, discussed her challenges getting the correct marriage certificate.
Nenad Radosavljevic, journalist from local television channel from north Kosovo, Mir, is of the opinion that if the judicial system was inoperable for the last 18 years, then it should be clarified whether citizens really need a court.
According to him, the Brussels agreement said that things would be coordinated, but in reality they were only served the agreement itself and nothing else to actually facilitate the process.
The Head of the Supreme Court of Kosovo, Enver Peci, added that these problems are not just a matter of the judiciary, but a reflection of political relations between the two countries as well.
For many of the panelists in the debate, professional Serbian-Albanian translation was raised as a problematic issue.
UNMIK founded debate on Serb community challenges to obtain Kosovo documents (media)
- Published: 5 years ago on 10/05/2019
- By: OSCPA H
- Last Modified: May 10, 2019 @ 3:37 pm
- Filed Under: Articles from Kosovo media
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