It’s been 14 years that Aferdita Statovci from the village of Sllatine, Fushe Kosovo, is seeking justice to return to her house. Aferdita says that she was 10 when her father passed away in 1998, and when her father’s relatives sent her out of the house where she was living with her mother, claiming that they have no claim to ownership. In 2006, Aferdita decided to initiate a heritage procedure through the judiciary, claiming her legal rights as heir to the property after her father’s passing, but says that she has yet to find justice. “I filed charges in 2006 and in 2009 I took a firm decision where the property is identified under my name, I transferred the property under my name in the cadastral office in Fushe Kosove municipality. After a while, the president of the Municipal Court at the time, removed the seal claiming that the other party filed a complaint. The other party filed another complaint later and the Court sent the case for retrial. Now is the fourth time that the case is being sent to retrial. But knowing who the real inheritors are and for this to go on for 14 years, this is like death for me,” Aferdita said. She added that she has lost faith in the judiciary and does not believe the case will be resolved. “I have been violated by the judiciary. If a decision had been made for 14 years now, I could have had my share of the property. The process will be repeated and this could take years, because the case now has a different number and it is considered a new case; it can go on for 4-5 years in the Basic Court, and the other party can file another complaint,” she added. Statovci’s case is one of the many unresolved court cases involving family heritage claims. Luljeta Aliu, head of the non-governmental organisation Initiative for Justice and Equality, told Radio Free Europe that inequality in dividing ownership between a couple or a family is a result of the patriarchal mindset which according to her is also reflected in the judiciary. “When a woman and a man face justice, it is much easier for men … Women are often discriminated, with or without intention, by members of the judiciary, be they men or women. In many cases when women ask for their share of property after the divorce, a female judge thinks she is asking for half of her husband’s property, this is not right, because that share does not belong to him or her, and if you don’t claim it, you’re giving it away,” Aliu said. Aliu argues that line institutions have not shown readiness to facilitate the resolution of property disputes by allowing them to be delayed for several years. “It is absolutely unacceptable for a court dispute to last 15 – 17 years. I know a case in Gjilan that has been going on for 17 years, or a case when a person had to wait for two years to get a court summon for divorce. This is negligence by the judiciary, and negligence on behalf of the citizens, because it seems that the lives of women do not get the same attention as the lives of men. None of our institutions are accountable, no one is dismissed,” Aliu said. The right to ownership is guaranteed by the Constitution of Kosovo which provides equal roles for women and men in society. Despite the existence of a legal framework, the division of heritage in Kosovo in many cases is done based on custom law or tradition whereby women are not considered equal to men. In Kosovo, according to data from 2018, only 16 percent of immovable property is registered in the ownership of women. After an administrative directive, which promotes the joint registration of immovable property for two spouses in public registries, entered into force in 2016, there has been an increase in the number of joint registered properties in the name of both spouses.
The 14-year-old battle over property heritage (Radio Free Europe)
- Published: 5 years ago on 22/07/2019
- By: OSCPA F
- Last Modified: July 22, 2019 @ 9:37 am
- Filed Under: Development/Humanitarian
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