Over the years, there has been significant political and social pressure on Kosovo’s courts and prosecutors’ offices. As the European Commission’s 2022 Progress Report on Kosovo said, the country’s judicial system is slow, inefficient and vulnerable to undue influence. This interference means that Kosovars do not trust the justice system. This is concerning for a number of reasons and the causes of this climate of distrust are alive and well.
Distrust in the justice system is a common problem in newly formed states as there is a lack of awareness from citizens about how the system works. Many citizens hold the misconception that the judicial system does not function at all. In reality, the judicial system functions, just not very effectively. Citizens need time to adapt to and believe in new institutions and the justice system in Kosovo has only existed for two decades.
Corruption within the justice system and the slow pace of cases — thousands of cases remain unresolved due to low capacity — reinforces the perception that the system is not working. However, there are thousands of cases that are resolved on time and the public’s perception is often more negative than is called for.
Kosovo has a modern system of justice based on the constitutional and legal models of Western countries. This system guarantees and protects the rights and freedoms of each individual. As a new state aiming for European integration we must build civic awareness about the justice system. We must also have trust in the justice system, which in turn would increase its efficiency.
Trust in the justice system affects security and individual well-being, since it leads to a confidence that the state protects and guarantees individual rights and freedoms. A lack of trust in the justice system leads to insecurity and non-cooperation with institutions, which could potentially result in people taking justice into their own hands.
Why the lack of trust?
In a survey conducted by the Democratic Institute of Kosovo in September 2022, respondents were asked, “How much do you trust the justice system in Kosovo?” On a scale of one to five, where one is not at all and five is completely, the overall result was 3.14.
This distrust comes from our past, when we did not have local justice institutions. Before the end of the war in 1999, Kosovo was governed by harsh political regimes that created negative perceptions among the population about the justice system. Courts and prosecutions were considered by many to be foreign institutions that did not belong to Kosovars. The persecution of Albanians by the Yugoslav government also undermined people’s faith in the system. This has led some Kosovars to seek justice themselves outside of institutions. Deep-seated tendencies to seek justice ourselves remain, functioning sometimes closer to customary law and Kanun than to modern institutional systems of justice and redress.
Since the establishment of courts and local prosecutions, interference in the justice system has been a regular occurance. There have been numerous cases of corruption that have sometimes involved justice officials, some of whom have gone unpunished. The 2018 Report on Human Rights Practices, published by the U.S. Department of State, states that in Kosovo “officials sometimes engaged in corrupt practices with impunity. A lack of effective judicial oversight and general weakness in the rule of law contributed to this problem.”
Successive governments have exerted improper pressure on the judicial system and interfered through the appointment of figures with party ties to high level positions. There have been a number of cases where political influence was used to interfere in criminal proceedings against public figures. Politicians seem to have authority over the police, the prosecution and the court. There have been accusations of corruption and abuse of office against political figures. Since their official position was considered as a valuable defense, most of them were acquitted.
Disciplinary procedures against judges and prosecutors for such cases have been almost non-existent. Meanwhile, the Vetëvendosje (VV) led initiative to vet the justice system has largely failed. The Venice Commission on Vetting reduced the proposed vetting from covering all positions in the judiciary system to only the highest positions, disagreeing with the initial government proposal to vet everyone. The 2021 Progress Report of the European Commission on Kosovo concurred with the Venice Commission, stating that “re-evaluation of all judges and prosecutors is a serious concern.” The vetting procedure has been prolonged and there is no deadline for when this process can be implemented, certainly not within the current government mandate.
The impunity of corruption has strengthened the atmosphere of distrust towards the justice system.
Another trend that has contributed to distrust in the justice system is its increasingly tense relations with the VV government. Recently, we have seen mutual public accusations between VV and the Judicial and Prosecutorial Councils. The Councils have been accused of bias and politicization, but they have accused the government of undermining their independence. The Minister of Justice, Albulena Haxhiu, has publicly accused the Constitutional Court of having “individual interests” in their decisions related to government-approved legislation that the opposition has opposed and sent for adjudication by the Constitutional Court. The Constitutional Court is the main body that controls the exercise of political power and maintains constitutionality and some political leaders see it as limiting their authority, which they use to legitimize attacks against it.
Due to distrust towards the system and a lack of information about how it works, members of the public and political commentators have felt justified to pass judgment on cases of high social sensitivity, such as criminal cases involving murder and rape, despite the cases being handled by justice institutions. Although freedom of speech provides them with this right, attacks that foster distrust in the justice system are concerning.
Although there are many reasons for distrusting the judicial system, this distrust is not isolated. Trust in the justice system is fundamental for trust in institutions and is the basis of legal-social regulation, whereas distrust in the judicial system means that state institutions are distrusted as a whole.
Concrete measures must be taken to increase the efficiency of justice institutions and citizens’ trust in them. The safety of citizens and the guarantee of rights (which rely on trusting the judicial system) are a vital factor in the functioning of a modern state.
Feature Image: K2.0.
