English - Eulex

vetting process of all judges and prosecutors did not include the local Supreme Court Judge for the KPA
Appeals Panel, she/he was not appointed in 2009. The absence of the local judge means that the panel is
legally not in a position to render final judgements. However, in most of the appeals submitted court orders
are necessary in order to establish the facts and/or grant the right to be heard. These court orders have
been prepared by the two international panel members as reporting judges. In addition, other measures
needed for the KPA Appeals Panel to be operational were taken: the Panel has set up its own registry,
developed procedures for case-flow and case-handling methods in close co-operation with the KPA, and
in general made preparations for an immediate decision making process following the appointment of the
local Panel member. In view of the complicated and sometimes unclear civil legislation the task of locating
and compiling the laws needed for its jurisdiction has also occupied the Panel members considerably all
through the year 2009.
Other activities of the KPA Appeals Panel members in the year 2009 consisted of handling complaints
made by individuals in Kosovo on various civil matters and forwarding them to the Panel members by
the office of the Presidency of the EULEX Judges. Their number totalled 35 and all but two of them were
completed during the year 2009. The Panel members also took part in the Supreme Court on-call system
(as from spring 2009) as well as in various working groups and seminars. They arranged a training course
on property issues for EULEX civil judges. Various legal assessments and propositions were delivered
to the Head of the EULEX Justice Component, the President of the Assembly of EULEX Judges and the
Assembly of EULEX Judges for decision. In numerous meetings contact was established and kept with
both international and local counterparts in order to exchange information and to streamline efforts.
The KPA Appeals Panel EULEX judges are, respectively: a member of selection panels for new EULEX judges
and legal staff, a substitute member of the EULEX Kosovo – Human Rights Review Panel, and a EULEX
judge at Supreme Court level for general civil cases, as well as a member of the Kosovo Judicial Council
(KJC) and its Committee on Judicial Disciplinary matters.
VI. Special Chamber of the Supreme Court of Kosovo
on KTA related matters
The Special Chamber of the Supreme Court of Kosovo on KTA Related Matters (SCSC) was founded by UNMIK
in 2003 as an international court to provide for a strong, independent and unbiased control mechanism
for the privatization process in Kosovo carried out by the Kosovo Trust Agency (KTA). In early 2009 it was
redesigned and largely expanded, now involving a total of 43 EULEX judges and other international and
local staff. On 28 January 2009, the President of the SCSC was appointed.
The continued weakness of the local judiciary, in particular its incapability to deal properly with conflict
related cases, which many of the cases that fall in the scope of the SCSC’s jurisdiction are, and the high
probability of the involvement of organized crime in privatization related matters, often accompanied
by pressure exerted on local judges, calls for continued international involvement in this area of the
administration of justice in Kosovo.
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