Kosovo’s judiciary still fails to meet European and international standards, since it is not fully independent from the executive branch, a newly released OSCE report finds.
The independent functioning of the judicial system in Kosovo still faces a number of shortcomings, and judges continue to work in a difficult environment where threats are made and pressure exerted, finds the report published by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
The OSCE’s Ambassador to Kosovo, Werner Almhofer, who presented the results on Tuesday, said that despite improvements resulting from judicial reform in Kosovo, a number of challenges still affect the independent functioning of the justice system.
He said that many positive steps have been made with the adoption of the new legislation on courts, the vetting of judges and the alignment of salaries in the judicial system.
“However, further improvements are needed, especially in ensuring a safe working environment for judges and prosecutors, free from improper and undue interference notably in politically sensitive and high-profile cases,” Almhofer said.
“The courts need to live up to the expectations of people and act as an impartial arbiter capable of making fair decisions in accordance with the law...Is [the judiciary] independent or not? We have seen concrete improvements, but much remains to be done [to ensure its independence].”
Kosovo’s judiciary bears the legacy of the Yugoslav judicial system, in never having developed a tradition of judicial independence vis-à-vis the executive branch, the report notes.
It also continues to face tremendous pressure and serious challenges including enormous backlogs, entrenched organised crime and corruption, and property disputes.
The OSCE report points out that security arrangements for judges who receive threats remain poor, which affects the country's judicial independence and contributes to its failure to meet European and international human rights standards.
Efforts to address these challenges by various actors, international and local, have put the judiciary in an almost constant state of reform.
In assessing the state of the judiciary in Kosovo, the OSCE examined the appointment and removal from office, disciplinary accountability, the legislative framework governing matters of independence, and rules of case assignment.
It also looked at individual actors- judges, prosecutors and other legal professionals- and considered whether there is sufficient respect for the principle of separation of powers to insulate actors from improper interference in decision-making.
The OSCE report was based on the monitoring of the legal system by the OSCE Mission in Kosovo and interviews with more than 30 local and international legal actors.