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Life in Kosovo debates reform of the justice system

09 07 2009  This Life in Kosovo show discussed reforms in Kosovo’s judicial system, the conflict of interests within the judicial system, corruption within this institution, and the future of more than 200 judges in Kosovo who haven’t passed the ethics exam.

How is it possible that more than 200 judges and prosecutors have failed their ethics exam? Should they carry on with their jobs in the justice system, although they don’t know the basic rules of ethics? How will the reappointment of judges and prosecutors proceed? Is there case trading and corruption within the judicial system?

To discuss these and others issues regarding the judicial system in Kosovo, Betim Musliu’s guests in the studio were:
 
Tomë Gashi, lawyer and legal advisor to the Prime Minister
Hamdi Ibrahimi, judge at the District Court in Prishtina
Nekibe Kelmendi, Minister of Justice
Tahir Rrecaj, judge at the Supreme Court of Kosovo
Anton Nokaj, head of the District Court in Prishtina
Ismet Ukshini, head of the Public Prosecution Office in Gjilan.
 
Tahir Rrecaj, judge at the Supreme Court of Kosovo, said that reforms within Kosovo’s judicial system are slow and unnecessarily delayed, since the government is failing to approve the laws.
 
“Reforms in the judicial system of Kosovo have been delayed for a long time. Two laws that were drafted three years ago, and were sent to the government, have never been approved by the government,” he said.
 
Minister of Justice Nekibe Kelmendi claimed that the new constitution of the Republic of Kosovo requires new laws to be drafted by the ministry she leads, and then it depends on the government whether the laws are approved or not. Further, she claimed that two laws on reforms have been drafted and sent to the government in March of 2009. However, they have not been taken up for consideration yet.
 
Her responsibility as a minister was challenged when Musliu asked about delays in approving the laws. “My responsibility is to draft the laws, something that I have done. I have no power to push for the laws to be approved. That is up to the government,” Kelmendi said. The minister emphasized the urgency for the laws to be approved and believed that this will happen soon.
 
Confronted with questions on the responsibilities and duties of the legal advisor to the Prime Minister and why he is not doing more to push forward this issue, Tome Gashi mentioned that it is not in his mandate to push the process of approving those laws. “I am not there to do politics; I am an advisor to the prime minister and do so according to his agenda. The laws must be harmonised according to the European Union standards, afterwards they need to be put up for the approval in the parliament.”
 
Conflicts of interest within Kosovo’s judicial system were revealed in a BIRN report by journalist Fatmire Haliti. The video showed how that in Gjilan, an official works on the prosecution and judicial side at the same time.
 
After the report was shown, the moderator posed the questions of how could this happen and not be recognised by the prosecutors.
 
To this, Ismet Ukshini, head of the Public Prosecution Office in Gjilan, said that it was not part of his remit, nor in his power to act against those officials and that he has sent a written complaint to higher authorities, such as the judicial committee. “The judicial committee is the one that appoints judges and prosecutors and that it is their responsibility to deal with these problems.”
 
Other panelist in the debate disagreed with Ukshini’s opinion, claiming that because of his position as the head of the prosecution office he has the responsibility to tackle and solve this problem of conflict of interest. “As the head of the public prosecution office, how can you allow your employee to work for two institutions? This is an example of abuse of office and is illegal,” said Gashi.
 
The other report prepared by BIRN’s reporter Betim Musliu revealed problems in the District Court of Prishtina. The report exclusively revealed an official letter from the vice-head of the District Court in Prishtina, Mejdi Dehari, who writes of the misuse of verdicts by the current head of the court, Anton Nokaj.
 
The investigative piece revealed how Mr. Nokaj dismissed a verdict, reached by the Courts committee to continue the custody of an accused individual. Nokaj ordered his release instead. “It is not true that the verdict to continue the custody was achieved. My decision was legal and based upon time pressure and previous debates made between Dehari and me.”
 
His colleagues questioned this claim and asked for a case review. “This case has questioned the authority of the court and I have asked for this to be investigated. It is in your duty to meet with the verdict members and discuss if the verdict has been reached, or not. Only then will this issue be clarified,” said Hamdi Ibrahimi, judge at the District Court of Prishtina. While Gashi confronted Nokaj by saying either he or Dehari would face justice.
 
A corruption affair within the district court of Prishtina raised a debate on the managerial side of this court. While four judges of this court have been suspended and currently are being investigated for corruption, and two others are also being investigated, Nokaj claimed that he has no influence on someone’s personal and ethical approaches. “I am responsible for managing the court and making sure that the laws are being implemented and not responsible for how someone behaves,” he added.
 
Ibrahimi acknowledged that there are major managerial problems within this court and that Mr Nokaj is not able to deal with this reality. He urged Nokaj to take responsibility, as he is the head of this court. “We are not able to deal with the reality in this court and Nokaj must understand that he is responsible for managing it properly.”
 
One problem he raised was that members of the judges committee are not appointed on time and that this committee does not function properly. The lack of appropriate monitoring mechanisms within the courts was also something that he referred to, while claiming that he has attempted to ask for changes.
 
Another problem discussed was the fact that 200 judges and prosecutors have not passed the ethics test, and thus will not be able to qualify for reappointment within Kosovo’s judicial system. They have also lost an opportunity for another three year mandate.
 
“These candidates will not be allowed to work within Kosovo’s judicial system. They are morally broken and this will affect their work from now on,” said Ukshini.
 
Asked what those judges and prosecutors should do professionally, Rrecaj said that if he was one of them, he would have voluntarily stepped down from the position. “This is my personal thought and I do not want my colleagues to misunderstand me. It is up to them to decide what they want to do,” he said.
 
The judges and prosecutors who have not passed the test will be allowed to work for one more year, when their mandate runs out, and after, will no longer able to continue. This is considered to be a major problem, taking into consideration the lack of staff in Kosovo’s judicial system. They will, however, be able to work as lawyers in the future.
 
While the test was assessed as meeting European standards and was effective, most panelists claimed that many colleagues who failed the test were good and ethical in their profession. They justified this failure as a result of negligence, lack of time to finish the test, or to study the theory based material.
 
Tome Gashi argued that the test has been a necessary step and those judges and prosecutors who have not passed it have confirmed their professional inability. “It was their professional and personal choice to study for this test. They have not done accordingly, thus it is their own fault.”
 
Corruption claims were addressed between Nokaj and Gashi throughout the panel discussion. While Musliu asked for concrete facts to be brought forward which would confirm the claims, none of the panelists involved were able to provide them.