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Analysis of REL: Judicial cooperation between Kosovo and Serbia, mainly on paper

2023-10-22 13:31:32Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX

Analysis of REL: Judicial cooperation between Kosovo and Serbia, mainly on paper

Despite the agreement they have, Kosovo and Serbia do not easily cooperate in criminal matters. This year, even, Serbia has completely stopped asking Kosovo for data on certain court cases, even though it has responded to some of Kosovo's requests. The two countries have reached the Agreement on Mutual Legal Assistance in 2013, within the dialogue for the normalization of relations, which is mediated by the European Union.

The agreement was amended in 2015 and, based on it, the parties exchange court requests through representatives of the European Union. Responding to Radio Free Europe, the Office of the EU Special Representative in Pristina (EUSR) said that, over the past few years, "a large number of cases - whether requests or responses - have been successfully exchanged by the parties, through the EUSR". The EUSR provided REL with data from 2020 to September of this year, according to which, Kosovo has made 1,460 requests in Serbia for various court cases, while it has received answers in 415 of them.

During the same period of time, Serbia submitted 596 requests to Kosovo, while it received responses to 1,050, since many of them included responses to requests made before 2020. In the first nine months of this year, according to the EUSR , Kosovo made 211 requests and received answers for 17. Serbia, on the other hand, no requests, no answers. The EUSR did not comment more about the figures, but emphasized that the Agreement on Mutual Legal Assistance "is important", because it "enables the parties to improve judicial cooperation".

The agreement was terminated "unilaterally"
The Director of the Department for International Legal Cooperation in the Ministry of Justice in Kosovo, Gazmend Çitaku, says that the implementation of the agreement was unilaterally terminated by Serbia.

"This issue was also raised by the Representative of the European Union Office and the Office of the EU Special Representative in Kosovo. The information I have is that Serbia has declared that it has not given up on this agreement, but, on the other hand, there is no execution of the requests, no response from them for several months", says Çitaku for Radio Europe Cheap. Within a year, he adds, the Ministry of Justice receives about 200 requests from Albanian and Serbian citizens who want to resolve issues through the justice system. However, many of their rights remain unfulfilled, due to Serbia's non-cooperation, says Çitaku. Lawyer Ibrahim Ahmeti, from the municipality of Prizren, confirms that many court cases have been pending recently, due to the lack of cooperation from Serbia.

"Now I have a case where the inheritance decision was taken in Serbia. Here in Kosovo they do not accept it. I requested that through the Ministry of Justice I come to the acceptance of those documents, but for now we have stagnated. So we have problems", says Ahmeti for Radio Evropa e Lire. Based on the Agreement for Mutual Legal Assistance, the party first makes the request for resolution in one of the courts of Kosovo, which forwards it to the Ministry of Justice. The latter then sends it to the EU Office in Kosovo, from where it goes to the EU Office in Serbia and from there to the Ministry of Justice of Serbia. The answer, too, should go in this form. REL addressed the Serbian Ministry of Justice regarding the implementation of the Agreement on Mutual Legal Assistance with Kosovo, but did not receive a response.

Cooperation mainly in civil cases
The Judicial Council of Kosovo also did not respond to REL's request to comment on this topic. The Prosecutorial Council said that they have never received any report from any of the institutions - excluding the Ministry of Justice - regarding the implementation of the agreement in question. According to organizations that monitor justice in Kosovo, the Agreement on Mutual Legal Assistance with Serbia has been implemented mainly in civil cases. According to them, Serbia has not cooperated in any case related to war crimes or involving high-profile individuals. Ehat Miftaraj, from the Kosovo Institute for Justice, says to Radio Free Europe that "Serbia has not had the will to cooperate in matters of the transfer of convicted persons or the arrest and extradition of hundreds of persons who have committed crimes in Kosovo and have fled In Serbia". Consequently, Serbia, according to him, "has become a paradise for criminals".

"Shelter" in Serbia
Currently, Kosovo is calling for Serbia to hand over the participants in the September 24 attack in Banjska i Zvecan, who are believed to be there. Millan Radoicic, suspected organizer of the attack that killed the Kosovar police officer, Afrim Bunjaku, has been questioned by the Serbian prosecutor's office and has been charged with several crimes, including arms trafficking and causing general danger. Radoicic - a Serb from Kosovo - has found refuge in Serbia last year as well, when the Kosovar authorities declared him a suspect in a case related to several illegal constructions, known as Brezovica. Serbia continues to oppose Kosovo's independence, which was declared in 2008. Consequently, the two countries do not have an extradition agreement./REL


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