Ombudsperson’s report criticizes lack of transparency in the Specialist Court

The Ombudsperson Institution published today in Pristina the Ex officio Report addressing the functioning of the Specialist Chambers and the Specialist Prosecutor’s Office. In this document, presented during a panel discussion, serious concerns are raised regarding the low level of transparency and the lack of accountability of these institutions.

According to the report’s findings, the Specialist Chambers have operated outside any form of democratic oversight by Kosovo’s institutions. This situation, the Ombudsperson emphasizes, has created a pronounced gap with the country’s citizens and state bodies, who lack access to information and the ability to demand accountability.

The document stresses that “the Specialist Court has not been subjected to democratic monitoring and control by the institutions of the Republic of Kosovo, creating a lack of transparency and accountability toward the citizens and institutions of Kosovo.”

The Ombudsperson has expressed concern that the absence of a domestic component and oversight by Kosovar authorities has called into question the respect of guarantees for a fair and impartial trial. The report highlights several problematic aspects, including the extension of detention, procedural balance between parties in the process, evidence admissibility criteria, surveillance of communications, and the independence of oversight bodies.

Among the report’s main recommendations is the demand that the Assembly and Government of Kosovo create conditions for an independent and professional mechanism that would monitor judicial proceedings in the Specialist Chambers. The Ombudsperson also requests that the identified concerns be forwarded to the Council of Europe and other relevant international bodies.