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almanac on security sector oversight in the Western Balkans

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Kosovo<br />

Grades<br />

GENERAL TRANSPARENCY grade: 1.5<br />

Executive Summary:<br />

Transparency of public <strong>in</strong>stituti<strong>on</strong>s <strong>in</strong> Kosovo is limited and is far from be<strong>in</strong>g<br />

<strong>in</strong> l<strong>in</strong>e with best European practices. Several reports of <strong>in</strong>ternati<strong>on</strong>ally and locally<br />

based organizati<strong>on</strong>s repeatedly criticize <strong>the</strong> c<strong>on</strong>servative approach of <strong>the</strong><br />

government <strong>in</strong> refus<strong>in</strong>g to disclose certa<strong>in</strong> official documents. The tendency to<br />

refer to a document as be<strong>in</strong>g ‘classified’ runs c<strong>on</strong>trary to <strong>the</strong> Law <strong>on</strong> Classified<br />

Informati<strong>on</strong> hav<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> m<strong>in</strong>d that this law has not started to be applied,<br />

yet. C<strong>on</strong>cern<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> <strong>security</strong> <strong>sector</strong>, <strong>the</strong> f<strong>in</strong>d<strong>in</strong>gs showed that <strong>the</strong> police were<br />

more efficient <strong>in</strong> resp<strong>on</strong>d<strong>in</strong>g to requests for access to <strong>the</strong> official documents,<br />

whereas <strong>the</strong>re are no substantial records for <strong>the</strong> situati<strong>on</strong> with ei<strong>the</strong>r <strong>the</strong><br />

Kosovo Security Force (KSF) or <strong>the</strong> Kosovo Intelligence Agency (KIA), as <strong>the</strong>se<br />

<strong>in</strong>stituti<strong>on</strong>s are <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> process of c<strong>on</strong>solidati<strong>on</strong>. There are limited capacities<br />

am<strong>on</strong>g <strong>the</strong> public <strong>in</strong>stituti<strong>on</strong>s and, overall, <strong>the</strong> current Law <strong>on</strong> Access to Official<br />

Documents is <strong>on</strong>ly partially implemented.<br />

The C<strong>on</strong>stituti<strong>on</strong> guarantees <strong>the</strong> right of citizens to access official documents;<br />

it also highlights <strong>the</strong> right of data privacy protecti<strong>on</strong>, and c<strong>on</strong>siders <strong>the</strong> need<br />

for classify<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>formati<strong>on</strong> requir<strong>in</strong>g regulati<strong>on</strong> by specific legislati<strong>on</strong>. The Law<br />

<strong>on</strong> Data Privacy Protecti<strong>on</strong> was approved <strong>in</strong> April 2010 and its implementati<strong>on</strong><br />

is still <strong>in</strong> its <strong>in</strong>fancy. There is lack of awareness am<strong>on</strong>gst citizens <strong>on</strong> <strong>the</strong> right to<br />

privacy protecti<strong>on</strong>.<br />

Recommendati<strong>on</strong>s:<br />

Access <strong>on</strong> Official Documents:<br />

• The public adm<strong>in</strong>istrati<strong>on</strong> <strong>in</strong> general and <strong>the</strong> <strong>security</strong> <strong>in</strong>stituti<strong>on</strong>s <strong>in</strong> particular<br />

need to immediately start implement<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> new Law <strong>on</strong> Access to Official<br />

Documents (2010);<br />

• Security <strong>in</strong>stituti<strong>on</strong>s shall refra<strong>in</strong> from refus<strong>in</strong>g access to official documents<br />

under <strong>the</strong> excuse of ‘nati<strong>on</strong>al and public <strong>security</strong>” unless <strong>the</strong> document is<br />

classified.<br />

FINANCIAL TRANSPARENCY grade: 2<br />

Executive Summary:<br />

Transparency of public <strong>in</strong>stituti<strong>on</strong>s is embedded <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> legal framework of<br />

Kosovo - <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>security</strong> related legislati<strong>on</strong>, procurement and public f<strong>in</strong>ancial<br />

management laws. The legal framework <strong>on</strong> <strong>the</strong> f<strong>in</strong>ancial management and<br />

procurement is <strong>in</strong> place, though <strong>the</strong> procurement has been widely criticized for<br />

not be<strong>in</strong>g compatible with some European directives.<br />

The Law <strong>on</strong> Public F<strong>in</strong>ancial Management and Accountability clearly set up<br />

<strong>the</strong> procedures of budgetary proposal and report<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g deadl<strong>in</strong>es.<br />

Procedures related to budgetary circulars rema<strong>in</strong> transparent and <strong>the</strong> external<br />

actors (such as n<strong>on</strong>-governmental groups, journalists, citizens) can have access<br />

to <strong>the</strong> budget. The adm<strong>in</strong>istrative capacity <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> budgetary departments and<br />

procurement raises an issue of c<strong>on</strong>cern. In particular, research showed a low<br />

level of professi<strong>on</strong>alism am<strong>on</strong>gst <strong>the</strong> budgetary departments as well as <strong>in</strong>ternal<br />

c<strong>on</strong>trol mechanisms.<br />

287<br />

Almanac <strong>on</strong> Security Sector Oversight <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Western</strong> <strong>Balkans</strong>

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