Indpendent Agencies Report - Alb, Ser, Eng.pdf - QKSS

decision against a person be stayed, i.e. a decision would not be enforced while the Ombudsperson was
investigating the case. 321
During his investigations, the Ombudsperson was authorized to enter and inspect any place where
arrested persons are held in custody and to be present at meetings or hearings involving such persons,
including the right to access and examine files and documents of the interim civil administration and of
any emerging central or local institution. However, the enforcement powers of the Ombudsperson were
still weak as he could not initiate legal proceedings against public authorities, when they would not
cooperate or refused to implement the recommendations issued by the Ombudsperson. Issuing a
recommendation and publishing the violation were the only instruments available to the
Ombudsperson. In the event of non-compliance, the only remedy available to the Ombudsperson was to
address the SRSG, who was not obligated to take action against the public authority that refused to
follow the Ombudsperson’s recommendation.
9. Current Legislation
The legislation governing the Ombudsperson was revised by the UNMIK in February 2006. This is still
the applicable legislation, though it should now be interpreted in accordance with the provisions of the
Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo of 15 June 2008. 322 The independent legal status and the powers
of the Ombudsperson remain almost entirely the same as before. However, under the new regulation,
there is no longer the possibility for the Ombudsperson to conclude agreements with KFOR to extend its
jurisdiction to human rights violations attributable to KFOR. With regards to cases involving the
UNMIK, the Ombudsperson would only have jurisdiction on the basis of a bilateral agreement with the
SRSG (does such an agreement exist or not, mention this). Thus, as of 2006, the jurisdiction of the
Ombudsperson is confined to the Kosovo Institutions, which at that time included the Provisional
Institutions of Self-Government in Kosovo as established by the Constitutional Framework for
Provisional Self-Government in Kosovo in 2001 and which, since Kosovo’s declaration of independence
on 17 February 2008, include the public institutions of the Republic of Kosovo. The Ombudsperson is
vested with a number of new powers, which, however, remain “soft powers”, e.g. to advise Kosovo
Institutions on human rights matters, to make recommendations with regard to legislation and to
prepare reports on the human rights situation in Kosovo. New elements include the right to assess
321 Ibid, Sections 4.6 and 4.10.
322 UNMIK Regulation No. 2006/6 on the Ombudsperson Institution in Kosovo, amended by UNMIK Regulation No.
2007/15.
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