Legal changes to the Special Court expected to be submitted next week

The Democratic Party of Kosovo is expected to submit to the Assembly next week an initiative to amend the Law on the Special Court. According to information from Dukagjini television, the initiative comes after the guilty verdict against four former leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army.

The four former KLA leaders were sentenced to a total of 81 years in prison, a decision that, according to reports, no one agrees with. For this reason, the possibility of intervening in the legislation governing the activities of the Special Court is being considered.

The verdict against the four KLA leaders was handed down in the name of the people of Kosovo.

The main question being raised is whether the Law on the Special Court can be amended. Skender Musa, a lawyer accredited by this court, said that Article 65, paragraphs 1 and 2, sets out the procedure for amending the law.

“Article 65, paragraphs 1 and 2, provide for the way the law can be amended, but if we proceed only with amending the law, I consider that to be insufficient, because the Specialist Chambers themselves also have a Constitutional Court with the authority to annul both Kosovo’s laws and decisions when they concern the work of the Specialist Chambers,” Musa said.

According to him, any possible constitutional amendment would also require the votes of deputies from non-majority communities, including the Serb List.

“For the amendment to succeed without affecting the independence of the Court, and for the constitutional amendment to be changed, two-thirds of the majority deputies, that is, Albanians, and two-thirds of the deputies from the communities, Serbs and other communities, would be required. Therefore, legally, the amendment is possible,” Musa said.

Lawyer Ardian Bajraktari also assessed that the law contains provisions that are not in line with the Constitution.

“There are a number of provisions that are inconsistent with the Constitution, such as the issue of sentences, and there is also a lack of a mechanism for overseeing this court. All of this can be done through a legislative procedure in the Assembly, assuming there is the will to do so, despite the fact that it is relatively late,” he stressed.

PDK leader Bedri Hamza said a day earlier that the party had secured 22 signatures to call an extraordinary session.

According to information obtained by the television station, the initiative may include changes related to the second instance of the Special Court, namely the Appeals Court, so that proceedings can take place in Kosovo.