Parliamentary inquiry committees: an accountability mechanism or a political instrument?

Only one parliamentary inquiry committee has been established during the 11th legislature of the Assembly of Kosovo. It is examining actions and inaction in the case of Arlinda Zekaj.

At the committee’s meetings, members have stressed that the final report must be based on facts and not influenced by political positions.

Under current legislation, an inquiry committee prepares a report and submits it to the Assembly. If the report identifies evidence of a criminal offense, it is forwarded to the Prosecution.

One case in which an indictment was filed following an inquiry committee’s report concerns Driton Gashi, the former director of the Kosovo Intelligence Agency, over the unlawful deportation of six Turkish citizens from Kosovo.

Over the years, however, dozens of inquiry committees have been established in the Assembly of Kosovo to investigate various issues. The Kosovo Law Institute says that most of them have failed to fulfill the purpose for which they were created.

Melos Kolshi, a researcher at the Kosovo Law Institute, says these committees should be regarded as important mechanisms for citizens and the Assembly itself, rather than as tools for political agendas.

“Inquiry committees should not be viewed as political issues or matters driven by political agendas. They should be seen as matters of particular interest to citizens and to the Assembly. But many inquiry committees have also been established only for their work to later break down,” said Melos Kolshi, a researcher at the Kosovo Law Institute.

Analyst Shemsi Jashari also says that, in many cases, inquiry committees have produced no concrete results in resolving the problems that prompted their creation.

“They are used more for immediate political and public effect, to defuse an issue, than to achieve their intended legal effect. We have even seen cases where parliamentary inquiry committees have been unable to do their work because those in government boycotted them and prevented the work from being completed,” he said.