almanac on security sector oversight in the Western Balkans

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human rights by the Kosovo Assembly, however, may be considered an exception due to attention paid by the local and international mechanisms operating in Kosovo to promote an interethnic and intercultural environment. The oversight of budget expenditures in the security sector however, has been a matter of concern. Although competent oversight committees exist, there were almost no discussions by the parliamentary committee regarding security sector budgetary expenditures. The only occasion when there might be parliamentary discussion about the budgetary issues are when Annual Audit General Reports are discussed. Until now parliamentary committees have not initiated any additional ad hoc parliamentary discussion specifically about the budget expenditures of security institutions (Venhari, 2010). Of greater concern is the fact that contracts exceeding one million Euros have not been subject to discussion despite this being legally required. This constrains the efforts of parliament to oversee budgetary expenditures and especially high value contracts in the security sector. Further, this shows limited interest among MP’s to exercise their role in scrutinising expenditures of public funds. Parliamentary oversight of the activities and policies of security institutions is also nearly non-existent. These committees failed to address most of the shortcomings of the security sector regarding the adaptation of strategies, implementation of good governance practices and other important governmental policies. This can be a detriment to the checks and balances between the legislative and executive within this sector (KCSS, 2012). There were no discussions either in committee or plenary sessions on the adoption of a security strategy for Kosovo or for other institutional strategies. The main deficiencies which indicate a low performance in parliamentary oversight are related to limited professionalism within the Assembly staff in addition to a lack of effort among MP’s (Selmani, 2010). Regarding recruitment of parliamentary support staffers, there are indications that political biases and personal preferences influence the hiring of personnel. This problem is common throughout public administration in Kosovo. This could be one explanation for the relatively low number of skilled staffers among parliamentary committees, which is highlighted in a number of different reports (KDI, 2011). In addition, there is a lack of political willingness expressed by political or institutional leaders to move the processes forward. This is due to a combination of personal or party interests and the influence they have over other members of parliament, indicating that in practice the AoK has much less influence on security sector actors than it is given by law. 120 4.2. Independent state institutions Independent state institutions are among the main mechanisms for oversight of security institutions, especially with respect to human rights protection and appropriate use of public funds.
Table 3 – Security Sector Parliamentary Oversight Committees Parliamentary Oversight Committees responisble for Kosovo Police Parliamentary Committee for Internal Affairs and Security and Oversight of Kosovo Security Forces Parliamentary Committee for Budget and Finance Oversight Committee on Public Finance Parliamentary Oversight Committees responisble for Kosovo Security Force Parliamentary Committee for Internal Affairs and Security and Oversight of Kosovo Security Forces Parliamentary Committee for Budget and Finance Oversight Committee on Public Finance Committee of Legislation Committee of Legislation Commission on Human Rights, Gender Equality, Missing Persons and Petitions Commission on Human Rights, Gender Equality, Missing Persons and Petitions Kosovo Parliamentary Committees responisble for KIA Parliamentary Committee of Oversight of Kosovo Intelligence Agency The only independent state institution authorised to oversee human rights protection in all public areas, including the security sector, is the Ombudsperson Institution in Kosovo (Ombudsperson). Since the security sector is one of many oversight areas covered by the Ombudsperson, however, this institution has very limited capacities. The Ombudsperson lacks sufficient personnel for adequate training. A significant portion of qualified personnel have left the institution due to erratic financial support and low salaries. The Ombudsperson Institution is also lacking space and premises at both the local and central level (Jashari, 2010). The Ombudsperson often is faced with political interferences which have hindered its work (YIHR, 2009). Although the Ombudsperson lacks consistency in reporting, its reports did mention few cases of human rights violations caused by security institutions. In the latest Annual Report published by the Ombudsperson (2008/2009), only twenty-three cases of human rights violations caused by the police were mentioned. This represents only five per cent of all cases and only one case has been reported for the KSF whereas no case was filed for the KIA (Ombudsperson, 2010). Among the most vulnerable groups which have been affected by human rights violations from the police are activists from “Vetëvendosje”. The report, however, does not identify any particular group as a vulnerable target requiring specific attention, apart from traditional groups such as gender and ethnic communities, for whom statistics are provided. There are two independent institutions in Kosovo which are established to control expenditures of public funds: the Office of Audit General (OAG) and the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA). The role of the OAG is to provide independent oversight of all budgetary expenditures of public funds. The OAG conducts regular audits and publishes annual reports for each public institution and for private enterprises whose funding includes funds allocated by Kosovo’s Consolidated Budget (Law on OAG, 2008). The role of the ACA is related to investigation of corruption affairs. The ACA is responsible for investigating all allegations against the employees of the public sector regarding the possible misuses of public funds or nepotism (Law on ACA, 2009). 121 Almanac on Security Sector Oversight in the Western Balkans
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Serbia Almanac on Security Sector O
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Publishers: the Belgrade Centre for
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Acknowledgements This alman
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Introduction While official coopera
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the purpose of this study, accounta
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Different authors chose to present
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Chapter 1 - Albania Authors: Arjan
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1 . Introduction Albania This chapt
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Albania cotts them. Opposition ofte
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Table 2: Permanent committees with
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Albania The president is also the h
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Albania trust the expertise of the
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Box 1: The Gerdec case Albania The
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Albania Executive financial control
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Albania resources of the People´s
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Albania become a common trend (Free
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Albania intelligence, while the Nat
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Albania these units are not always
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Albania Trust has increased in the
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Albania • The executive and parli
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Albania 26. Minutes from the discus
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Albania 11. OECD. SIGMA, Support fo
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Abbreviations and acronyms BiH Bosn
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that with its assistance, in the fo
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fourteen police agencies in Bosnia
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An institution that best exemplifie
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Several different agencies share co
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this research, these departments ad
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the respect for human rights in the
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significantly improved since 2008,
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2006, Bosnia and Herzegovina signed
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5 . Recommendations The proposed la
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Bibliography 68 Primary sources 1.
Page 70: 8. www.sipa.gov.ba - state Investig
Page 74 and 75: Abbreviations and acronyms BiH Bosn
Page 76 and 77: 1 . Introduction This chapter will
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Page 82 and 83: Figure 1 International organization
Page 84 and 85: higher standards of operations of s
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Page 98 and 99: Bibliography 53 1. Anderson, Peter
Page 100: 38. Zakon o prekršajima, Narodne n
Page 104 and 105: Abbreviations and acronyms ACA Koso
Page 106 and 107: 1 . Introduction The security secto
Page 108 and 109: The international military presence
Page 110 and 111: Figure 1: Organisation of the Secur
Page 112 and 113: Figure 2: Mapping of the Security S
Page 114 and 115: According to the new Law on the Pol
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Page 118 and 119: Court decisions for criminal cases
Page 122 and 123: Both the OAG and the ACA submit the
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Page 126 and 127: Bibliography 126 Legislation 1. Con
Page 129 and 130: Chapter 5 - Macedonia Author: Andre
Page 131 and 132: 1 . Introduction Macedonia Macedoni
Page 133 and 134: Macedonia through assistance to and
Page 135 and 136: Macedonia Oversight institutions ha
Page 137 and 138: Macedonia Thirdly, the Committee on
Page 139 and 140: Macedonia Even though the SAO issue
Page 141 and 142: 4.1. Parliament Macedonia The polic
Page 143 and 144: Macedonia SICPS is unprofessional a
Page 145 and 146: 4.5. Constitutional Court Macedonia
Page 147 and 148: Macedonia Members of the Committee
Page 149 and 150: Macedonia person under surveillance
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Page 153 and 154: Macedonia 14. Закон за ра
Page 155 and 156: Macedonia 32. State Audit Office (2
Page 159 and 160: Chapter 6 - Montenegro Authors: Raj
Page 161 and 162: 1 . Introduction Montenegro The aim
Page 163 and 164: Montenegro The process of security
Page 165 and 166: Montenegro Finally, the National Se
Page 167 and 168: Montenegro CSD only needs the agree
Page 169 and 170: Montenegro bers representing differ
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Montenegro only after the Agency fo
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3.5. Financial oversight and contro
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Montenegro make additional efforts
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Bibliography Legislation Montenegro
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Montenegro 13. Ministry of Internal
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Abbreviations and acronyms CCD Code
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herent. The reason for this was a l
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ance and respect for human rights a
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security institutions during one wo
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meetings, regular exchange of infor
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maltreatment in custody it is impos
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expressed in relation to the role o
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have acted as intermediaries of the
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and the third, budgetary inspection
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obliged to send quarterly reports o
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The aforementioned problems could b
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6.1.3. Judiciary • Courts should
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Bibliography 206 Primary sources 1.
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208 Secondary sources 1. Belgrade C
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210
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Abbreviations and acronyms ARS Army
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ise data from previous analyses 186
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states and in the region (Hadžić,
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The formative phase was crucial for
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similarities between the processes
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adical SSR, but also the main threa
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The emergence of new actors permane
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control and oversee the work of exe
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MPs in the work of several committe
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Table 3: New legal framework Laws A
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Table 4 - part 2: Political and Str
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Table 7: Independent State Institut
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14. Miroslav Hadžić, Milorad Timo
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SSR Index - Measuring to Advance De
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1 . Introduction SSR Index - Measur
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Box 1: Where is this framework appl
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• Frequency: frequent/occasional/
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Annex I: Grading System for SSR GRA
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GRADE 5 Focus is on adopted values
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Grades Grades for Parliamentary Con
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Albania Grades Table: Measuring Thr
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Albania Bosnia and Herzegovina tran
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Bosnia and Herzegovina reveals defi
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Bosnia and Herzegovina Croatia esta
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Croatia Grades GENERAL TRANSPARENCY
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Croatia contribute to the planning
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Kosovo Grades GENERAL TRANSPARENCY
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Kosovo Macedonia Procurement transp
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Macedonia Grades GENERAL TRANSPAREN
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Macedonia The state budget is based
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Montenegro Recommendations: • The
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Montenegro of Public Procurement, t
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Serbia ties of the DSC’s work, cl
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Serbia of the actors’ organizatio
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Research Consortium Partners ANALYT
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