The Kosovo Law Institute (KLI), with the support of the US Department of State – Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) and NED, on Friday, held a virtual roundtable in which the report was presented ” Challenges of mediation in Kosovo ”.

KLI researcher, Gzime Hashani, stated that despite the fact that Kosovo has built an advanced legal infrastructure in this area, the judicial and prosecutorial system still does not adequately use this way of resolving cases. She said that by acting in this way, the justice system in addition to violating the rights of the parties, judges and prosecutors burden themselves with cases that could potentially be resolved in mediation proceedings.

“Hashani stated that KLI has found that in 2017 and 2018 by the court very few cases have been referred to mediation, while there is a significant increase in 2019 and a regression in 2020.

Furthermore, according to Hashani, during 2017 all Kosovo prosecutions have referred to mediation a total of 682 cases, while in 2018 this number has increased to 904. She said that this number had increased significantly in 2019, when prosecutors had referred to mediation a total of 2,034 cases, while during 2020, when the work of the State Prosecutor was influenced by the situation created by the COVID-19 pandemic, the State Prosecutor referred to mediation a total of 1,608 cases “, it is said in the press release.

Hashani stated that in accordance with the requirements of Law No. 06 / L-009 on Mediation, the Chamber of Mediators was established with the approval of the statute on November 2, 2019 by the General Assembly of the Chamber of Mediators.

However, according to her, this Chamber had functioned illegally, due to the fact that in addition to the approval of the statute by the General Assembly, the Law requires approval by the Ministry of Justice. The same said that the statute approved by the General Assembly of the Chamber of Mediators in this case, has not been approved by the Ministry of Justice until September 21, 2020.

By acting in this way, according to Hashani, KLI has found that the Chamber of Mediators, which acts in accordance with the law and its statute, in this case has acted without legal basis, as its statute has not been approved by the Ministry of Justice, consequently has not been in force.

According to Hashani, KLI has found that there is a lack of data regarding the professional aspect of licensed mediators and the need to raise civic awareness for the implementation of the mediation procedure.

KLI researcher, Hajrije Krasniqi, stated that in terms of fulfilling the obligations deriving from the new Law on Mediation, KPC and KJC have approved regulations for referring cases in mediation.

Krasniqi said that despite the fact that there is a clear provision for mandatory mediation, which obliges judges to proceed with these cases in mediation procedure, KLI finds that this area of ​​mediation in Kosovo has not found the required implementation “, it is said further in the notice.

According to her, compulsory mediation has not managed to find application in practice as required by law, as the number of cases referred to compulsory mediation is very low.

Further, Krasniqi said that despite the obligation of judges to refer each case to mediation, KLI during the systematic monitoring of the judicial system has found that this provision does not apply in every case. She said that during the monitoring, KLI found concrete cases, suitable for mediation, in which judges did not inform the parties that their case could be referred to mediation. Respectively, as she said, the judges did not enable the parties to express their will to resolve the appropriate mediation case through this procedure.

By acting in this way, according to Krasniqi, the judges initially charged themselves with cases, which they were able to refer to the mediation procedure at the will of the parties. She said that in order for such a will to exist, first of all, information is required from the judges, respectively respect for the article of the Regulation.

Further, the senior researcher from KLI, Yll Zekaj, stated that almost three years have passed since the entry into force of the law, which is considered a very modern law and a law that meets all the conditions to have a mediation developed in the legal system. .

He said that we have had a lot of investments from international donors, to have a developed mediation system, but that even after three years the law is not being implemented.

During this roundtable, according to the press release, Zekaj disclosed the recommendations given by KLI for the bodies involved in this process.

According to him, the KJC, KPC, court presidents and chief prosecutors should take concrete actions to increase the implementation of mediation in Kosovo, moreover, should constantly measure the trend of referring cases in mediation proceedings and reports of this nature. publish it on official websites.

“Judges and prosecutors should refer to mediation every suitable case for mediation and refer to compulsory mediation all cases required by law,” he said.

Zekaj said that KLI has recommended that court presidents, in cooperation with judges, compile lists of all cases where mandatory mediation is required and the same to be processed in mediation.

Also, Zekaj said that lawyers should ask the courts to refer to compulsory mediation, in cases where this is required by law.

The representative from the Chamber of Mediators, Adelina Sopi, said that the report drafted by KLI fully reflects the current state of the mediation process and the current challenges that have been following this process for many years now.

“As the Kosovo Chamber of Mediators we have been established according to the law, but we have many delays in functioning due to the change with the government, but also the situation with the pandemic which has greatly influenced the creation of a structure that would function and help the process of mediation “, declared Sopi.

“She said that the Chamber of Mediators has marked success in creating the offices of the Chamber, thus creating the conditions for holding mediations with reference, but that according to her there is a lack of infrastructure.

Sopi said that this procedure is being challenged by technical irregularities, where as she said, the persons responsible for organizing mediation sessions are not sufficiently prepared.

On the other hand, the judge of the Basic Court in Prishtina, Dren Rogova, stated that the report published by KLI is very critical, especially towards the judiciary.

He said that with the obligatory mediation a great burden is placed on the judiciary, which it should not have, but as he said, the legislator has foreseen to be burdened with the big bill of administration of a great work which is the reference of mediated cases “, it is said in the announcement.

Judge Rogova said that the number of cases that a judge is obliged to refer to mediation proceedings is large, and according to him, if on average a judge has 800 cases, it falls to an average of 400 cases to refer. in mediation, adding that such a thing is difficult to achieve due to the resources and staff in the Court of Prishtina.

Further, Rogova stated that judges do not hesitate to refer cases to mediation, but it is not possible to administer such a procedure in the absence of resources.

“Judges are between judging their cases and carrying out their day-to-day affairs, including writing and drafting judgments and other technical work that a judge carries out and referring cases through mediation,” he said.

The judge said that due to the large number of cases, cases are being dragged out and according to him, it is neither fair nor unethical when after 5-10 years when a party comes to the initial hearing, to be told that mediation must now be tried.

According to the announcement, Rogova said that the Kosovo Judicial Council should take measures to provide all the mechanisms for this law to function properly, adding that the courts should be provided with support staff, so that cases are referred to mediation in reasonable time and the parties are notified of the alternative settlement of disputes, with the deadline provided by law.

While the judge of the Basic Court in Prishtina, Fatime Dërmaku, stated that the findings are more grounded, adding that they are very soft from what is on the ground.

Judge Dërmaku stated that during her work in the General Department she had referred any suitable case for mediation, but said that during her work there were cases related to the Kosovo Electricity Distribution and Supply Company (KEDS), which did not have never agreed to resolve the case through a mediation procedure.

Judge Dërmaku praised the work of mediators, as according to her, the agreement is made by mediators in court, while adding that mediators should be more engaged in terms of promoting the mediation procedure.

During this roundtable, lawyer Kujtim Kërveshi said that mediation should not be seen as a formal procedure, as he said that it is not so and that in all countries of the world mediation is not so complicated.

Kërveshi said that the initial purpose of the Law on Mediation, in terms of mandatory mediation, was not to put a burden on judges, but according to him the idea was that the issue did not reach them at all.

He further added that mediation is very unlikely to take place in criminal proceedings and that according to him, mediation should not be seen as a procedure for dismissing prosecutors.

Kërveshi said that mediation is not a highly regulated institute, as the very nature of this procedure should not be formal.

In the end, he added that during his work as a lawyer, during the drafting of the clauses, he never decides the court, but the mediation and then the arbitration.

The Kosovo Institute of Justice (KLI) strongly condemns the physical attack on journalist Visar Duriqi and calls for a prompt and professional investigation to bring the perpetrators of this crime to justice.

According to KLI, physical assault and forms of intimidation of journalists in Kosovo are unacceptable and punishable in a democratic society.

“Such attacks on journalists are a direct attempt to restrict freedom of speech aimed at intimidating journalists and society to express their views freely. In this form the practice of an anarchist path is built, where individuals remain more powerful than the law. KLI calls on the justice system to take all necessary legal actions to solve this case, bringing to justice the perpetrators of this crime, who must receive the deserved punishment. KLI informs all actors involved in such criminal cases that they can never deter journalists and the media from performing their duties in the service of informing the public. “On the contrary, such cases prove that the community of journalists continues to remain committed to the performance of their duties, which are undoubtedly an obstacle to individuals and criminal groups.”

Kosovo Institute of Justice (KLI) estimates that the voting process in the early parliamentary elections held on February 14, 2021, has met the standard of free, fair and democratic elections.

KLI throughout the day until the closing of the ballot boxes monitored the voting process of citizens throughout the territory of the Republic of Kosovo, with a team of 51 observers / mobile monitors – volunteers – who focused on monitoring the cases of incidents, in which they assessed the actions and reactions of the Police, the Prosecution and the Courts.

“KLI has identified a number of cases of incidents, which are suspected to have entered the criminal sphere, but in which cases, it estimates that there has been an adequate response of the police and the prosecution, in preventing and prosecuting responsible persons. In addition, KLI reflects the findings and assessments of election day monitoring. KLI observers during election day have identified various violations, the most common of which was non-compliance with anti-COVID measures by citizens in almost all polling stations and polling stations in all municipalities of Kosovo. Moreover, in addition to not keeping their distance and in various cases not even masks, by citizens, KLI observers have identified cases where commissioners and / or observers did not wear masks, as a protective measure against the COVID-19 pandemic. Another repeated violation, which has affected various regions within Kosovo, has been the sending of SMS with messages from certain political parties, calling for voting for them. In this regard, the prosecution has been notified that KLI has opened a case in due process. Through the observation conducted by KLI, three cases of photographing the vote were also identified, in three different regions within the country. KLI observers have also identified cases of lack of ballots in four different polling stations, all in Pristina. Whereas, in two cases, KLI observers have identified displays of political party logos inside the Voting Centers. Of these, one case was identified in Prishtina and another in Suhareka. KLI from sources within the prosecution has understood that there are two cases open in regular procedure, for interference in the computer system. Another case for which the law enforcement agencies intervened was identified in Lipjan, where a person was detained due to the threats of the commissioners. A case was also identified in Prishtina, where a citizen stated that he was not allowed to vote because after arriving at the polling station he found that a signature had already been placed on his name on the list. Regarding this case, KLI was informed by the police that this case has been handled and the person in question has been provided with conditional voting. Whereas, further actions are being taken in coordination with the state prosecutor. KLI observers have also identified at least one case where there was a lack of official CEC signs in the ballot box, then another case where there were doubts about the identification of dead persons on the voter lists, one attempted case. for double voting, as well as a case for vote sale. Whereas, for the cases when the persons were denied the right to vote due to the expiration of the ID card despite the application to be provided with a new one, the KLI observers have reported several times within today. This issue was then concluded with the CEC decision to allow these persons to vote. KLI observers in one case also found that observers were forced to take on the role of commissioner, due to the large number of voters. This case has been identified in the capital “, it is said in the announcement.

KLI observers are already monitoring the ballot counting process in polling stations, where so far, no cases of irregularities have been reported. Further, for any innovation, KLI will keep you informed.