The Kosovo Specialist Chambers and Specialist Prosecutorâs Office have a seat in The Hague. Footnote 2 The KSC is tasked with investigating crimes allegedly committed by the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) in the course of the civil war which took place in Kosovoâthen a province of Serbia within the Federal Republic of Yugoslaviaâin the late 1990s. Legal Assistance with Kosovo Specialist Chambers Through implementation of new regulations and processes, it is important to have legal counsel that understands and is able to comprehend the specifics. In December 2016 Ekaterina Trendafilova was elected first president. Hashim Thaçi, Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi, and Jakup Krasniqi are transferred to the Detention Facilities of the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague. The KSC and SPO are of a temporary nature with a specific mandate and jurisdiction over crimes against humanity, war crimes and other crimes under Kosovo law, which were commenced or committed in Kosovo between 1 January 1998 and 31 December 2000 by or against citizens of Kosovo or the former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. [8] The four specialized chambers are all chambers of corresponding regular Kosovar institutions: The judges appointed to serve in the Court are:[14]. The Specialist Chambers is the court, whose mandate is to conduct independent, impartial, fair and efficient criminal proceedings in a safe and secure environment. The Kosovo Specialist Chambersâ position. [9], Among the people charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity are Kosovo former president Hashim Thaçi and senior Kosovar politician Kadri Veseli. 12 The SC have primacy within their subject matter jurisdiction over all other courts in Kosovo. In March 2017, the Judges of the KSC adopted the Rules of Procedure and Evidence (RPE), which are now finally available on [â¦] 24", "Special Kosovo war crimes court to be set up in The Hague", "Case Information Sheet: Specialist Prosecutor v. Salih Mustafa (Case No. That is why it was required to establish a new structure. The ambition of The Hague UNited for Peace and Justice Foundation is to build on this foundation with the aim of giving peace & justice an important place in the hearts and actions of our residents, entrepreneurs and organizations. Peace is a daily, a weekly, a monthly process, gradually changing opinions, slowly eroding old barriers, quietly building new structures. What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others. On 3 August 2015, the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo adopted the Law on Specialist Chambers and Specialist Prosecutorâs Office, which entered into force on 15 September 2015. The Specialist Chambers based in the Hague mirror each level of the Kosovar court system: the Basic Court of Pristina, the Court of Appeals, the Supreme Court, and the Constitutional Court. 2. Their staff is international, as are the Judges, the President, the Registrar, and the Specialist Prosecutor. We seek peace, knowing that peace is the climate of freedom. It operates under Kosovo law but it is staffed with international judges and prosecutors. As âspecialist chambersâ within the Kosovo justice system, the KSC is mandated to try grave trans-boundary and international crimes committed during the aftermath of the war in Kosovo, reported in a 2011 Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly Report and investigated by a Special Investigative Task Force. The Kosovo Specialist Chambers: Jurisdiction and Applicable Law. The Kosovo Specialist Chambers is an unusual set-up. All cases are in the pre-trial stage. The Kosovo Specialist Chambers and Specialist Prosecutor's Office (KSC & SPO) is a court of Kosovo, located in The Hague (Netherlands), hosting four Specialist Chambers and the Specialist Prosecutors Office, which may perform their activities either at the KRSJI or in Kosovo. This article examines the reasons why the Kosovo Specialist Chambers and its specific attributes are widely heralded as a promising hybrid solution for transitional justice. The Kosovo Specialist Chambers offers visitors and journalists the possibility to attend public hearings from the gallery of the courtroom. The premises also include a media center to enhance reporting of proceedings to Kosovo and a broader audience. KSC-BC-2020-06)", "Indictment confirmed against Hysni Gucati and Nasim Haradinaj", "Pjetёr Shala arrested in Belgium pursuant to arrest warrant of the Kosovo Specialist Chambers", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kosovo_Specialist_Chambers_and_Specialist_Prosecutor%27s_Office&oldid=1012570549, Wikipedia articles in need of updating from December 2017, All Wikipedia articles in need of updating, Pages using infobox court with unknown parameters, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Raamweg 47, 2596 HN, The Hague, Netherlands, Keith Raynor (Vice-President), United Kingdom. Of those indicted, all have been arrested and all but one have been transferred to the Chambers' custody. An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind. Do your little bit of good where you are; itâs those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world. Eleni Chaitidou is a jurist educated in Germany where she obtained the First and Second State Examinations in Law. If the human race wishes to have a prolonged and indefinite period of material prosperity, they have only got to behave in a peaceful and helpful way toward one another. The Specialist Prosecutor's Office is an independent office for the investigation and prosecution of the crimes within the jurisdiction of the Specialist Chambers. The Kosovo Specialist Chambers and Specialist Prosecutorâs Office (KSC and SPO) were established by amendment to the Kosovo Constitution and adoption of the Law on the Specialist Chambers and Specialist Prosecutors Office by the Kosovo Assembly. Amendment no. These two judicial institutions were established within the justice system of Kosovo to investigate, prosecute, and try âinternational crimes committed during and in the aftermath of the conflict in Kosovo, which relate to ⦠Thaci previously spearheaded a campaign to repeal the Law on the Specialist Chambers at the Kosovo Assembly, which established the KSC back in 2015. Outreach with people in Kosovo and the wider region has been a top priority of the Kosovo Specialist Chambers... ⦠[10], In 2010, Swiss politician Dick Marty authored a Council of Europe-report in which he noted war crimes had been committed by the KLA. [8] The court is located outside Kosovo on request of the prosecutor in order to provide adequate protection to witnesses.[8]. KSC-BC-2020-05)", "Case Information Sheet: Specialist Prosecutor v. Hashim Thaçi, Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi and Jakup Krasniqi (Case No. Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding. FIND US The Kosovo Specialist Chambers are the latest, contested attempt at delivering justice for unpunished war crimes since the 1999 conflict.Their many predecessors have tried, but largely failed to bring justice to the victims, say Meris Musanovic and Arolda Elbasani.The new court, based in The Hague, is already four years old and hasnât issued any indictment yet. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the KSC has taken steps to ensure that it can continue to inform people in Kosovo about the court and its activities, to clarify misconceptions and to respond to the questions and concerns that people have. This article complements current legal research on the Kosovo Specialist Chambers and the Specialist Prosecutorâs Office â the âSpecial Courtâ â by tracing the political process and the interests which influenced the courtâs establishment. The Kosovo authorities have agreed with the EU on modalities of dealing with those serious allegations. In August 2015, the âKosovo Specialist Chambersâ Footnote 1 (KSC) was established by the Kosovo Assembly. She is currently pursuing a MAS in Transitional Justice.] Kosovo Specialist Chambers and Specialist Prosecutor’s Office, European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, "Albanian Insurgents Keep NATO Forces Busy", "Kosovo court to be established in The Hague", "Betreft Nederland gastland voor de Kosovo rechtbank", http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/kosovo-special-court-appoints-first-president-12-14-2016, "North Macedonia Albanian Leader Testifies to Kosovo War Prosecutors", "Amendment of the constitution of the Republic of Kosovo, I. Founding Documents. [8] It is separate from other Kosovar institutions, and independent. This includes conducting regular events online with people from Kosovo and the region in cooperation with civil society. Click the button to see the search input. The Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague, mandated to investigate and prosecute suspects in war crimes committed during Kosovo's 1998 ⦠The Kosovo Specialist Chambers (KSC) and the Specialist Prosecutorâs Office (SPO) are the latest addition to a multi-layered and broad spectrum of international institutions dedicated to the investigation and prosecution of international crimes. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Outreach with people in Kosovo and the wider region has been a top priority of the Kosovo Specialist Chambers from the very beginning of operations. 13 The KSC and SPO are funded by the European Union and third contributing states, including Norway, Switzerland and the United States. On 3 August 2015, the Kosovo Assembly adopted Article 162 of the Kosovo Constitution and the Law on Specialist Chambers and Specialist Prosecutor's Office, following the Exchange of Letters between the President of Kosovo and the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy in 2014. Outreach. They will function according to relevant Kosovo laws as well as customary international law and international human rights law. The Kosovo Specialist Chambers and the Specialist Prosecutorâs Office have operated from 2017 â present.. The Kosovo Specialist Chambers (SC), adopted by the Kosovo Parliament in 2015, is widely touted as a new, more promising attempt at achieving justice for unpunished war crimes. The EU has supported the process from the outset and together with other contributing countries (Canada, Norway, Switzerland, Turkey, and the United States of America) will financially support the work of the court. All of this has took valuable time and resulted that three years after its establishment, by the end of 2018, the SC finally initiated its first legal invitations, the first interviews with âwitn⦠The costs of the court will be borne by the EU[13] as part of its Common Foreign and Security Policy. [7] The court was formally established in 2016. The Kosovo Specialist Chambers and the Specialist Prosecutorâs Office are two independent institutions. The court is currently set up for delegating the trials of the crimes committed by members of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), an ethnic-Albanian paramilitary organisation which sought the separation of Kosovo from Yugoslavia during the 1990s and the eventual creation of a Greater Albania. The Kosovo Specialist Chambers (KSC) was set up in 2015 to investigate alleged crimes against ethnic minorities and political opponents by the KLA during the war in which Kosovo ⦠Then he becomes your partner. Accredited journalists may also use the media room to work during breaks or closed sessions. Subscribe to RSS. The Kosovo Specialist Chambers questioned hundreds of people from November 2018 until today. The extent to which the Kosovo national authorities will cooperate with the Specialist Prosecutor on other police-related matters, such as the execution of warrants of arrest (arresting and detaining suspects) remains to be seen. The latter will exclusively deal with constitutional referrals concerning the KSC or KSPO. In June 2019, the KSC and SPO moved into new premises, which feature a fully modern courtroom and integrated court management platform, with a gallery for visitors and the capacity to stream proceedings in the three official languages of the court (Albanian, English and Serbian) via the internet. Roland Dekkers (Specialist Chamber of the Constitutional Court). The Kosovo Specialist Chambers and Specialist Prosecutor's Office (KSC & SPO) is a court of Kosovo, located in The Hague (Netherlands), hosting four Specialist Chambers and the Specialist Prosecutors Office, which may perform their activities either at the KRSJI or in Kosovo. The Specialist Chambers are attached to each level of the court system in Kosovo – Basic Court, Court of Appeals, Supreme Court and Constitutional Court. The court will be staffed by EU personnel and will have international judges only. If we want to reach real peace in this world, we should start educating childeren. We may have different religions, different languages, different colored skins, but we all belong to one human race. Speaker: Eleni Chaitidou, Senior Legal Officer at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers (KSC) In this War Crimes seminar series event, Eleni Chaitidou will introduce the mandate and cases of the Kosovo Specialist Chambers. Bio. If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Kosovo Specialist Chambers Structure. The Specialist Chambers comprises two organs, the Chambers and the Registry. The KSC and SPO are relocated to The Hague, Netherlands. Kosovo Specialist Chambers The RIT Kosovo Research Center for Human Rights, in cooperation with the Humanitarian Law Center Kosovo, hosted today a presentation held by representatives of the Kosovo Specialist Chambers. A total of eight persons have been indicted in the Kosovo Specialist Chambers. The Specialist Prosecutorâs Office is responsible for the investigation and prosecution of crimes within the jurisdiction of the Specialist Chambers. The Specialist Chambers and the Specialist Prosecutor's Office are staffed with international judges, prosecutors and officers and have a seat in The Hague, the Netherlands. 3 On 11 December 2020, a Pre-Trial Judge of the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague confirmed the indictment filed on 30 October 2020 by the Specialist Prosecutor against defendants alleging obstruction of official persons in performing official duties, intimidation of witnesses, retaliation and violation of secrecy of proceedings. Unlike many other non-Dutch judicial institutions in The Hague, the Kosovo Relocated Specialist Judicial Institution isn't an international court, but a court constituted through Kosovan legislation. The indictments and redacted arrest warrants are also made available at this time. As the CS represents the legal âfusionâ of various elements from the courts that have operated in the last two decades in Kosovo, the existing structures of the Kosovar judicial power could not be used. On August 3, 2015, the Assembly of Kosovo amended its Constitution and passed the Law on the Specialist Chambers and the Specialist Prosecutorâs Office (the Law). The court is currently set up for delegating the trials of the crimes committed by members of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), an ethnic-Albanian paramilitary organisation which sought the separation of Kosovo from Yugoslaviaduring t⦠A temporary institution, it is funded by the European Union which both Serbia and Kosovo hope to join. The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. If you want peace you won't get it with violence. Antonio Balsamo (Specialist Chamber of the Constitutional Court, Reserve Judge), This page was last edited on 17 March 2021, at 02:44. Taking into account the shortcomings of courts like the ICC and the ICTY, commentators have been cautious in their response to the proceedings initiated before the Kosovo Specialist Chambers, despite it not formally being an international court. The Kosovo Specialist Chambers (KSC) and Specialist Prosecutorâs Office (SPO) were established pursuant to an international agreement ratified by the Kosovo Assembly, a Constitutional Amendment and the Law on the Specialist Chambers and Specialist Prosecutorâs Office. Please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Vidar Stensland (Specialist Chamber of the Constitutional Court). The agreement was based on the European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo. [Andrea Trigoso is a qualified lawyer with an LLM and experience in International Criminal Justice. The Kosovo Specialist Chambers announced the roster of 19 international judges who will be appointed to preside over cases adjudicating crimes committed by Kosovo Liberation Army, KLA, members during and after the 1999 Kosovo War. To provide a proper legal basis for the court, Kosovo's constitution was amended (amendment 24)[11][8] and Law No.05/L-053 on specialist chambers and specialist prosecutor's office was approved.[12]. It is composed of a Specialist Prosecutor's Office and four Specialist Chambers, with themselves comprising Judges' Chambers and a Registry. It is a temporary institution that is funded by [â¦] Anne Power-Forde (Specialist Chamber of the Constitutional Court). The indictment states several different specific war crimes and crimes against humanity. When the Kosovo Specialist Chambers were established in August 2015, the EU and US embassies in Pristina issued a joint statement describing the ⦠On April 23, 2014, the Law on ratification of the international agreement (âThe Exchange of Lettersâ) was adopted between the Republic of Kosovo and the European Union. Partly based on that report, the prosecutor of the Special Investigative Taskforce (SITF) of the European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX Kosovo) concluded sufficient evidence existed for prosecution of "war crimes, crimes against humanity as well as certain crimes against Kosovan law". The Kosovo Specialist Chambers and the Specialist Prosecutorâs Office are two independent institutions. 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