Holding hearings at the Palace of Justice in Pristina is becoming increasingly difficult due to high temperatures in the courtrooms, and in some cases this situation has even led to postponements.
The main cause of this situation remains the improper functioning of the air conditioning system. According to the Kosovo Judicial Council, fully fixing the problem requires major expenditure, KosovaPress reports.
Të lidhura
None found
The head of the Workers’ Union at the Basic Court in Pristina, Besim Spahiu, has also reacted to the issue, telling KosovaPress that he has held meetings with the court management, the secretariat and the Kosovo Judicial Council.
According to him, following the requests submitted, only a minor intervention has been made to the air conditioning system.
“On June 10, I sent a written request to the court management, the secretariat and the Judicial Council regarding the lack of air conditioning, but I received no response from them, while on the 17th I went to the Judicial Council to seek clarification about the problem, where I met with the chair of the council and was informed that they had engaged a team to address the air conditioning problem, and they promised me that within 20 days the air conditioning would be fixed to a considerable extent, since a full repair requires time and budget funds, which they currently do not have available. On June 25, we had a small repair to the air conditioning. As union chair, on July 1 I submitted an official request to the court management and the KJC, seeking a temporary reduction in working hours. I welcome the KJC’s decision, and we expect these measures to be implemented as soon as possible. So far, I have not received any official notification regarding this decision,” Spahiu said.
Lawyer Arbër Jashari also spoke about the practical consequences this situation is causing.
He said that this week, a hearing scheduled to last the entire day in the juvenile department could not continue because of the harsh conditions in the courtroom, and one of the parties even fainted. As a result, the hearing was postponed to another day.
Jashari also said that the Special Department of the Basic Court in Pristina has postponed almost all hearings considered non-urgent.
According to him, the postponement of hearings directly affects the rights of parties in criminal proceedings and results in violations of those rights.
“As recently as this week, we had a hearing that was scheduled to be held all day in the juvenile department, but by midday it was impossible to remain in those courtrooms. It is not easy, whether in advocacy or in following court hearings, it requires a great deal of concentration, for us to be comfortable at all times, and the high temperatures make it impossible for the brain to function. As I said, during the afternoon session, one of the parties nearly fainted because of the high temperatures; that building also has ventilation problems, the oxygen level in those facilities is lower than it should be… The Special Department of the Basic Court has postponed almost all hearings that are not urgent… The postponement of hearings directly affects the rights of parties in criminal proceedings. Every time a hearing is postponed, someone’s rights are violated — the rights of defendants when they are in pretrial detention, and the rights of the injured party,” Jashari said.
Meanwhile, the media spokesperson for the Basic Court in Pristina, Mirlinda Gashi, said in a written statement that an improvement has recently been noticed in the temperature situation in the courtrooms and that, for now, the court does not consider it necessary to reduce or suspend its work.
“The Basic Court in Pristina is aware of the decision of the Kosovo Judicial Council, by which court presidents are authorized to take measures to reduce or suspend work if the need arises as a result of high temperatures. However, at the Palace of Justice, during the last two days, an improvement in conditions has been observed with regard to temperatures in the working premises, namely the air conditioning system has started to function. Under these circumstances, the Court currently does not consider it reasonable to take measures to reduce or suspend work. Nevertheless, the Court will continuously monitor the situation and, if necessary, will implement the measures set out in the decision of the Kosovo Judicial Council, with the aim of protecting the health and safety of judges, administrative staff and the parties,” the response said.
On Monday, the Kosovo Judicial Council authorized the presidents of the Supreme, Appeals, Administrative, Commercial and Basic courts in Pristina to take measures due to the high temperatures prevailing at the Palace of Justice.
Going forward, the decision on reducing or suspending work remains in the hands of the court presidents operating in the Palace of Justice, depending on their assessment.
