Sundimi i Ligjit

RULE OF LAWcapacities and functioningof institutions12IV. Court Liaison OfficesAs one of the objectives of the EPAP for 2010,access to justice remains one of the many18objectives of the rule of law which still remains awish. The responsibilities of the judicial systemin Kosovo are regulated in accordance with themandate defined by the Constitution of theRepublic of Kosovo, Chapter VII. In addition,UNMIK, in close cooperation with theinstitutions of Kosovo (PISG) in 2005 had agreedto ensure the organizational independence ofthe courts by promulgating regulations 2005/52,2006/25 and Regulation 2006/26, Annex (XV,paragraph (VIII).The promulgation of these regulations was theculmination of the first part of the transfer ofresponsibilities from international to localinstitutions. This process of transfer ofr e s p o n s i b i l i t y a l s o c o n t i n u e s a f t e rindependence, although at the time of ourreporting, judicial institutions remain fragile, inparticular, they do not exercise any function insome parts of the territory of Kosovo, especiallyin the northern part of Mitrovica, municipalitiesof Leposavic, Zvecan and Zubinpotok. Since thetime of policy of "Standards for Kosovo",Kosovo institutions and UNMIK had madeefforts to ensure access to justice for allcommunities in Kosovo. As a result, theyfounded the Liaison Offices of the Courts19providing the legal basis 2006/25.Problem backgroundAmong others, the European Convention onHuman Rights in Section 6.1 guarantees accessto justice. Besides the fact that this instrument ofthe Council of Europe is applicable in our legaland institutional system through Kosovo20Constitution, the Republic of Kosovo has notmanaged yet to provide instruments andinstitutions that guarantee the practicalimplementation of this convention, therefore,standards recognized by the Constitution of theRepublic of Kosovo remain unimplemented.Since the end of the war in Kosovo, the internationalcommunity by leading the first pillar"of justice and internal affairs" have failed toestablish an advanced system of legalinstitutions and the rule of law in Kosovo.Since that time, a part of Kosovo's citizens havenot been able to have access to the courts whilethe rest of society that has had the opportunityto gain access, has not enjoyed the harvest of a21trial.During the period of “Standards before Status”22and “Standards for Kosovo” (whichimplementation enabled the opening of theprocess for discussing the final status ofKosovo), the UN administration in Kosovo,supported by the Ministry of Justice in 2006,founded 11 court liaison offices with still remainunder the responsibility of the Ministry ofjustice, even though their scope of work ispurely judicial. By looking from the perspectiveof an independent judiciary, as defined byUNMIK Regulation 2005/52 and 2005/53,responsibilities in connection with the courts areexercised separately by the Judicial andProsecutorial Council (and with the legislationwhich is expected to be promulgated in itsentirety, there shall be a Judicial Council and aProsecutorial Council). the Kosovo JudicialCouncil.18 European Partnership Action Plan (EPAP), chapter 3, paragraph 31.Prishtina 201019 This regulation may be downloaded at: http://www.unmikonline.org/regulations/unmikgazette/03albanian/A2006regs/RA2006_25.pdf20 Kosovo is not a member of the Council of Europe, but it has adopted many instruments of this organization, whether through the Constitutionof the Republic of Kosovo or trough the process of approximation of local legislation with the international advanced standards and practices.21 The number of files in courts of the Republic of Kosovo is around 213.000 unsolved cases, half of them have not been executed at all.22Draft plan of “Standards for Kosovo” may be found at: