Kosovo Deputy Prime Minister Hajredin Kuci says the Basic Court in Mitrovica North will belong to everyone not only to Serbs. He says Pristina and Belgrade will sign the justice agreement in two weeks. Kuci also predicts that the Brussels dialogue will conclude with a Peace Treaty between Kosovo and Serbia.
Kuci said the two delegations in Brussels have approximated their positions on the judiciary. In an interview for RTK, Kuci said he believes an agreement on the judiciary, which foresees the establishment of a Basic Court in northern Kosovo, will be signed in two weeks.
“Today I can say that we have approximated our positions and an agreement is expected to be finalized in the coming days … The agreement will be signed no later than two weeks from now. There will be consultations between working groups. We think the agreement will be signed in two weeks and implementation will commence immediately. Of course both parties have been careful first of all to respect the April agreement. The principle of respecting the laws and Constitution of Kosovo has also been accepted. The new agreement, which has yet to be finalized, will not contain any legal amendments. We have also agreed for a Basic Court in the territory under the jurisdiction of Mitrovica as it used to be in the past.”
Further in the conversation, DPM Kuci said the Basic Court will cover 7 municipalities not 5 as requested by Serbia.
He said the court will have an integrated approach and will not belong only to Serbs.
“We will reflect on the possibility of citizens’ participation, citizens’ access to justice, and adequate representation in the ethnic aspect of judges and prosecutors. There will be one Basic Court. There will be no two Basic Courts. This will include under its jurisdiction the municipality of south Mitrovica, North, Ferizaj, and Skenderaj. It will have a mixed ethnic composition which means there will be departments of Serbs and Albanians, but departments will be joint and the organization will be integrated. There will be no special character different to that of the judicial system.”
Further, Kuci said justice is not divided on ethnic basis and this Court will, therefore, have a mixed ethnic composition and joint tasks.
“The cases will be tried by judges of the Republic of Kosovo, regardless of whether they are Albanians or Serbs. There is no ethnic division in the justice system. On the contrary, it was agreed to have an integrated approach and in this sense, we will have a joint work and full integration. Of course, ethnic composition of judges will reflect ethnic composition of the population but one unified justice system will be upheld and not a divided one. What is important is that there will be Albanians and Serbs. Basic Court in northern part of Mitrovica will not be of Serbs only”.
Deputy Prime Minister Hajredin Kuci doesn’t believe elections in Serbia, or those in Kosovo, will have an impact on the dialogue’s dynamics. He is convinced that the dialogue will end in a Peace Treaty between the two countries, and their European Union integration.
