No conditions for the integration of Serbian judges in Kosovo (Politika)
The Brussels agreement on the judiciary most probably will not be applied on October 17, and Acting President of the High Court in northern Mitrovica Nikola Kabašić says there are more obstacles, reported daily Politika on Friday.
There is little chance that Serbian judges, prosecutors and judicial staff from northern Kosovo will be fully integrated into the Kosovo justice system on October 17, as announced in Brussels. Serbs from the north believe this date is not realistic, while Kosovo Albanians claim that the implementation of the Brussels Agreement on the Judiciary, the application of which has been delayed several times, is now in the process of finalization.
Kabašić, however, says the integration of Serbian judges and prosecutors into the Kosovo judicial system will not be realized by the scheduled date. He estimates that the integration of the agreement is an equation with more than one unknown and that no one knows how it will be solved, reported the daily.
"We do not know what the legal status of the colleagues judges who want to be integrated into the Kosovo judicial system will be, because Pristina demands that theirs labour relationship based in Serbia to be terminated. The issue of employment of judges, prosecutors and judicial staff is not regulated. This question is primarily political and not for the profession," Kabašić told daily Politika.
He adds that there are still outstanding issues, of which he sets aside the infrastructure. Kabašić states, according to his information, that the buildings in which the trials will take place, are not ready for the proceedings. He also says that Pristina has not fulfilled a large number of its obligations in order to integrate Serbian judges in the judicial system of Kosovo.