Serbia Handbook for Legal Aid Providers Final

There has been a great deal of negative experience in dealing with some KFOR contingents
(e.g. Greece, Germany) which typically refuse to pay. There have been cases where some
contingents have paid compensation to property right holders (e.g. Spain, U.K.)
It is recommended that in cases where a clients rights are being violated and KFOR fails to
take responsibility for its actions that the lawyer appeal to the embassy of the responsible
contingent in Belgrade with the hope of exerting political pressure. A copy of such an appeal
should be sent to relevant human rights organizations (i.e. Amnesty International, Human
Rights Watch).
Effective Use of the European Convention of Human Rights
Whenever possible, it is recommended to cite relevant articles of the European Convention
on Human Rights in addition to the local laws when advocating. This is especially true when
arguing before the HRAP or before an international judge, as they recognise the ECHR and
its case-law to be precedential. The relevant articles of the Convention as it relates to
property cases are:
Article 1 of Protocol 1-Protection of property
Article 2 of Protocol 4 -Freedom of movement
Article 6 - Right to a fair trial
Article 13 - Right to an effective remedy
Article 14 - Prohibition of discrimination
A number of relevant cases relating to the rights of IDPs, refugees in relation to restitution
and claims have been attached as an annex at the end of this handbook.
Section 4 - Property Related Legal Claims and Issues
Given the significant number of cases related to property, as well as its effect on resolution
of displacement, special attention is given to this area with key issues highlighted and
methodologies for addressing them.
Court proceedings should be initiated and followed through in the first and second instance
levels requiring legal representation before courts, administrative and other quasi-judicial
bodies in Kosovo and Metohija. The ability to determine the length of the proceedings –
thereby envisaging the timelines for the closure of individual cases - is difficult under the
current circumstances due to the contested legal framework, the lack of review mechanisms
(such as the yet-to-be-formed Special Panel of the Kosovo Supreme Court to deal with
KPA-related appeals), recurrent violations of procedural law 12 and unreasonably lengthy civil
trials 13 by the Kosovo and Metohija courts.
Most Frequent Types of Property Cases
The following breakdown categorizes the most common property problems that continue to
affect IDPs from Kosovo and Metohija. There is no common approach in addressing all of
these problems; some need to be addressed in Court, others by the Kosovo Property
Agency and others still by other organizations. The categories of common property
12 See OSCE Mission in Kosovo, Litigating Ownership of Immovable Property in Kosovo, March 2009.
13 For example, civil trials for the annulment of fraudulent contracts before the Municipal Court of Klina initiated in 2004
took over 5 years for a first instance judgment (e.g. Radivoje Isailovic C. No. 46/04, initiated in 2004).
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