The Weakest Link of Kosovo's Democracy - KFOS
The Weakest Link of Kosovo's Democracy - KFOS The Weakest Link of Kosovo's Democracy - KFOS
16 Regarding the impact of corruption in economic development and improvement of social life, countries in transition serve as suitable environment for corruption. Unfortunately, corruption found such terrain in Kosovo too and as such it is destroying the values on which economic development and quality of life depend. Practical trend (out of papers) of corruption development is posing a great risk for Kosovan society to accept this phenomenon as something normal. According to a research, conducted by an international organization, great percentage of respondents answered that they are unable to be employed or carry out any job valuable for their life without using family connections or bribing somebody. Though this is only their perception, nevertheless I believe that Kosovo institutions should engage in gaining greater trust from citizens. So, citizens should be made aware not to accept corruption as something without which nothing can be accomplished. A few days ago, the Anti-Corruption Agency published forms of declaration of assets of senior public officials. In a small place like Kosovo that emerged from a devastating war and with an undeveloped economy, with very low salaries in the public sector, it is strange to see so many millionaires. In one word, one might wonder how come so many people became millionaires in such a short period of time, when the fortune of dozens of people is bigger than the entire state budget and can this reality destabilize the state system? Security and stability wise, it is beyond any doubt that corruption and organized crime are greatly related to these issues. To be safer, Kosovo needs to know whether there is corruption in security mechanisms; is their real power getting weaker vis-à-vis the power of the corrupt; whether appropriate technological equipment for security mechanisms is being purchased; whether there is corruption in institutions defending the territory of the country; whether there is a possibility that terrorism is financed from corruption money; can Kosovo be involved in a massive social dissatisfaction?! Justice mechanisms need urgently to start actions and find out the destination of corruption money. Given that money coming from corruption is out of the system of bank control, then many questions arise as to their use. They may be used to finance terrorism or by hired assassins. One million euro could be enough to pay hundreds of people who commit different criminal or terrorist acts for pay!? These are questions we as a country ought to ask ourselves and think very seriously on how to approach corruption problem and urgently decrease its presence. This could be achieved by obeying the power of law rather than the power of money and other connections. But, also with a greater efficiency of justice system institutions and materials of criminal charges for suspected corruptive acts should be covered by dust in archives only after they have been adjudicated. (Author is Director of Anti-Corruption Agency)
Lack of Systematic Legislation for Judiciary, Process of re-evaluation of Judges and Prosecutors and the Backlog chaos in courts Kujtim Kerveshi Lack of systematic legislation for judiciary Lack of legal infrastructure in Kosovo is the main cause of lack of legal safety and creation of authoritarian interpretation the way bearers of the process feel in special moments or the qay it is imposed by the process or persons carrying out the process. Lack of main legal infrastructure for re-evaluation of judges and prosecutors and systematic legislation in the area of judiciary such as the Law on Courts, the Law on Public Prosecutor’s Office, the Law on Prosecutorial Council and the Law on Judicial Council, have caused big confusion among bearers of the process but also among judges and prosecutors, who are not part of institutions any more and those that have joined now. This legal infrastructure was related to high political interests and immense political influence from the very first moments of preparing this legal infrastructure from 2004 onwards, until it was promulgated in 2010. Preparation of systematic legislation on judiciary should have been accomplished in 2006 (when Kosovan institutions did not have full powers in this area), but these laws were carried over to legislative strategies of each coming year, although after the declaration of independence institutions of the Republic of Kosovo faced no obstruction, as far as responsibility is concerned, to prepare this infrastructure. Apart from these laws, our institutions, including the Government and Judicial Council, have not developed any legislation that refers to re-evaluation. On the contrary, this process was conducted based on UNMIK legislation, which was replaced/amended several times, and some provisions of regulations of 1999 caused obscurity during their application in respect of re-evaluation of judges and prosecutors in Kosovo. Furthermore, now that this process is completed and more than 60% of judges and prosecutors are new in their positions and will be evaluated following the completion of their three-year mandate, our institutions have not ensured the legislation and the institutions that will prepare re-evaluation process for new judges and prosecutors. Background of the problem of lack of legislation The infrastructure of legislation on judiciary was partly composed of legislation as old as the period of former Yugoslavia, as well as legislation promulgated by UNMIK during the years of absolute administration of this sector by this mission, as well as regulations promulgated by the SRSG that transferred powers partly from this area to local institutions (Regulations 2005/52, 2005/53, 2006/26 etc). 17 The Weakest Link of Kosovo’s Democracy forum 2015
- Page 1 and 2: forum The Weakest Link of Kosovo’
- Page 3: Table of Contents Introduction 5 Fr
- Page 6 and 7: 6 Forum 2015
- Page 8 and 9: 8 Constitution of Kosovo and the La
- Page 10 and 11: 10 “The aim is that, together wit
- Page 12 and 13: 9 12 The tendency to grant absolute
- Page 15: They should be tried! Hasan PrETEnI
- Page 19 and 20: 19 c) Without this legal infrastruc
- Page 21 and 22: eappointment of judges and prosecut
- Page 23 and 24: consequences Consequences of draggi
- Page 25 and 26: 25 Investigative Journalism From Pr
- Page 27 and 28: the Ministry of transport and the M
- Page 29 and 30: The graph shows that municipality o
- Page 31 and 32: Media reporting on companies close
- Page 33 and 34: invested between January 2008 and D
- Page 35 and 36: to the municipalities that have alw
- Page 37 and 38: MEST and MTPT Award Bids to compani
- Page 39: “Preportr “contacted “Bajrama
- Page 42 and 43: 42 A comparison between companies t
- Page 44 and 45: 44 Euros for a project of “Constr
- Page 46 and 47: 46 List of Bid- Winning Companies a
- Page 48 and 49: 48 thousand to few million Euros. A
- Page 50 and 51: 50 A rETroSPEcTIVE oF ÇoHu! ProJEc
- Page 52 and 53: 52 its regular coverage. To convey
- Page 54 and 55: 54 Corruption and Organized Crime:
- Page 56 and 57: 56 Alliance for Future of Kosova (A
- Page 59 and 60: eport on 100 Days of “Çeku” Go
- Page 61 and 62: discontent for giving the ministers
- Page 63 and 64: and the minister never held himself
- Page 65: Post and Telecom of Kosova (PTK) On
16<br />
Regarding the impact <strong>of</strong> corruption in economic development and improvement <strong>of</strong> social<br />
life, countries in transition serve as suitable environment for corruption.<br />
Unfortunately, corruption found such terrain in Kosovo too and as such it is destroying<br />
the values on which economic development and quality <strong>of</strong> life depend.<br />
Practical trend (out <strong>of</strong> papers) <strong>of</strong> corruption development is posing a great risk for<br />
Kosovan society to accept this phenomenon as something normal. According to a research,<br />
conducted by an international organization, great percentage <strong>of</strong> respondents<br />
answered that they are unable to be employed or carry out any job valuable for their<br />
life without using family connections or bribing somebody.<br />
Though this is only their perception, nevertheless I believe that Kosovo institutions<br />
should engage in gaining greater trust from citizens. So, citizens should be made<br />
aware not to accept corruption as something without which nothing can be accomplished.<br />
A few days ago, the Anti-Corruption Agency published forms <strong>of</strong> declaration <strong>of</strong> assets<br />
<strong>of</strong> senior public <strong>of</strong>ficials.<br />
In a small place like Kosovo that emerged from a devastating war and with an undeveloped<br />
economy, with very low salaries in the public sector, it is strange to see so many<br />
millionaires. In one word, one might wonder how come so many people became millionaires<br />
in such a short period <strong>of</strong> time, when the fortune <strong>of</strong> dozens <strong>of</strong> people is bigger<br />
than the entire state budget and can this reality destabilize the state system?<br />
Security and stability wise, it is beyond any doubt that corruption and organized crime<br />
are greatly related to these issues. To be safer, Kosovo needs to know whether there<br />
is corruption in security mechanisms; is their real power getting weaker vis-à-vis the<br />
power <strong>of</strong> the corrupt; whether appropriate technological equipment for security mechanisms<br />
is being purchased; whether there is corruption in institutions defending the<br />
territory <strong>of</strong> the country; whether there is a possibility that terrorism is financed from<br />
corruption money; can Kosovo be involved in a massive social dissatisfaction?!<br />
Justice mechanisms need urgently to start actions and find out the destination <strong>of</strong> corruption<br />
money.<br />
Given that money coming from corruption is out <strong>of</strong> the system <strong>of</strong> bank control, then<br />
many questions arise as to their use. <strong>The</strong>y may be used to finance terrorism or by<br />
hired assassins. One million euro could be enough to pay hundreds <strong>of</strong> people who commit<br />
different criminal or terrorist acts for pay!?<br />
<strong>The</strong>se are questions we as a country ought to ask ourselves and think very seriously on<br />
how to approach corruption problem and urgently decrease its presence.<br />
This could be achieved by obeying the power <strong>of</strong> law rather than the power <strong>of</strong> money<br />
and other connections. But, also with a greater efficiency <strong>of</strong> justice system institutions<br />
and materials <strong>of</strong> criminal charges for suspected corruptive acts should be covered by<br />
dust in archives only after they have been adjudicated.<br />
(Author is Director <strong>of</strong> Anti-Corruption Agency)
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