Even though the Kosovo institutions have done all that was necessary for the creation of Special War Crimes Court, its start is still pending because Council of the EU still did not adopt the budget of the court, and ratification of the agreement is still pending with the Netherlands.
The EU Office in Kosovo confirmed that the Kosovo authorities have done their part when it comes to creation of the Special Court. It is expected that European institutions would adopt the budget until the end of this month, which is of key importance for the court to start with the work. The obstacle to its creation is also that Netherlands’ parliament still didn’t ratify the agreement on its creation. However things are not stalled and something is still moving into the right direction since the first overall job advertisement for employees, apart for judges, has been closed in late May.
“It is expected that second job advertisement would be published during the summer, after what judges would be hired too. It is also planned, after all conditions are met, that special chambers in Kosovo would held a press conference in a due time and explain the current process and their mandate,” spokesperson of the EU Office in Kosovo, Dinka Živalj, said to RTK2.
In the Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) say that the pace of establishment of the Special Court is unacceptable. “By the pace of development of things, I doubt that court would start with the work by autumn, that is, no court proceeding would start, and this has been dragged to long. Of course, this is most difficult for the families of victims who have big expectations from this specialized court,” said director of the HLC Bekim Blakaj.
Blakaj said that protected witnesses are the biggest challenge for the Kosovo judiciary and that those are the Achilles heel of this process. “Of course that this is a challenge for the domestic judiciary, however this was and challenge for the Hague tribunal, realistically. I hope that the EU has learned a lesson from the domestic courts and from the Hague tribunal and that it would manage to protect witnesses in the right way, and protect their identity,” said Blakaj.
Blakaj claims that indictment will be raised against certain Kosovo officials, which have been mentioned in the report of the Swiss senator Dick Marty, and voiced his expectation that this won’t cause violent reactions of Kosovo society in terms of massive protests, due to their eventual arrest.
The Court will be under the authority of international judges and prosecutors and it has been foreseen that their mandate would last for five years, with the possibility for extension. The Special Court for War Crimes in Kosovo will be established in the Hague and will deal with the investigation of crimes committed by the members of the Kosovo Liberation Army in Kosovo in 1999-2000.
