Nearly a week has passed since the Law on the Specialist Chambers was returned to the Assembly, but no action has yet begun to reconsider it. President Justina Shiroka-Pula returned the law following a request from the PDK Parliamentary Group, which called for the provisions to be completed and legal certainty strengthened without unnecessary delays, within a period of four weeks.
The PDK’s request was made on October 22, following the approval of the legal amendments at a hastily convened overnight session held between October 6 and 7. The new president was also elected at the same session. The party called for the law on the Specialist Chambers and the Specialist Prosecutor’s Office to be returned to the Assembly for reconsideration.
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In its letter to Shiroka-Pula, the PDK said the aim was to improve the law and strengthen its legal basis. According to the party, most of the law had been completed, while reconsideration would serve to carry out a final professional review and address elements that could hinder its implementation. The party stressed that the request was for the law to be returned to the Assembly, not to the government, and not for the process to start from scratch.
The PDK said it was proud of the initiative and the support it had received, stressing that defending the KLA, the values of the liberation war and its former members in The Hague was a non-negotiable responsibility. In the letter, the party also said the process should lead to the law’s completion and entry into force without unnecessary delays.
Regarding the deadline, the PDK said it expected the law to be approved again within four weeks, just as it had been approved on October 6, 2026. It thanked the law’s supporters and those who, according to the party, would help bring it to completion.
However, six days after the president’s decision, discussions have not begun in the Assembly, and no plan for the next steps has been announced. The PDK has called on experts who have expressed their willingness to contribute, including the Ombudsperson, to submit concrete proposals.
The European Union welcomed the law’s return to the Assembly after expressing concern when the amendments were approved by the Kosovo Assembly in October. The EU now expects to be consulted if discussions on the law resume in the Assembly.
An EU spokesperson said that, in line with the correspondence between the European Union’s high representative and the president of Kosovo, the modalities for consultation with the EU before legislation is amended had been established. He added that he expected consultations to take place if the issue was reopened in the Assembly.
The amendments to Kosovo’s Law on the Specialist Chambers were approved after 21 days of protests against the first-instance conviction for war crimes of four former KLA leaders: Hashim Thaçi, Kadri Veseli, Jakup Krasniqi and Rexhep Selimi.
The new provisions include limiting the court’s jurisdiction, sentences of up to 15 years in prison, the continuation of proceedings at the Supreme Court level in Kosovo, and the possibility for those convicted to be pardoned by the president.
