The Kosovo Judicial Council has decided not to accept the request by judges and support staff members from the Serbian community to annul their resignations and return to their positions.
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The matter was reviewed on Thursday morning, when KJC members voted on the request. By a majority vote, the Council rejected it and recommended that Acting President Albulena Haxhiu relieve the judges of their duties.
The institution linked the decision to the collective resignations submitted several years ago by Serbian judges and staff within the justice system.
The KJC’s position has also drawn a reaction from the European Union, which expressed “deep regret” over the failure to approve their return to office.
Professor Kolë Krasniqi considers the decision not to allow the automatic return of Serbian judges who left office in 2022 to be legally grounded and institutionally justified. According to him, the resignations did not represent ordinary individual decisions, but rather a political and collective action that had consequences for the institutions.
Krasniqi stresses that the independence of the judiciary, as well as the implementation of the Constitution and the laws, must remain fundamental principles. The KJC decision was adopted with nine votes in favor, one against and one abstention, while the names of the judges were submitted to the President for their formal dismissal from office.
According to the professor, a judge exercises state authority and must be protected from political and ethnic influence, as well as from instructions issued by any authority outside the constitutional order. For this reason, an organized departure for political motives undermines citizens’ trust in the impartiality, stability and constitutional commitment of the justice system. He believes it would not be reasonable, after nearly four years, to annul resignations that had been declared irrevocable without taking into account the legal and institutional consequences that had arisen.
Krasniqi says the decision should convey the message that justice institutions cannot be abandoned and used as a tool of political pressure, followed by an automatic return to one’s position without a procedure, professional review or individual accountability. He adds that the authority and independence of the KJC are strengthened if the reasoning behind the decision is clearly based on the Constitution and the law, is applied individually and does not involve discriminatory treatment.
However, he underlines that ethnicity should serve neither as an obstacle nor as an advantage. For this reason, he says, new, open and transparent competitions should be held. Former Serbian judges would be able to apply as individuals, subject to the same criteria as other candidates, including checks of integrity, impartiality, professional skills and non-involvement in political activities.
In the short term, the decision could create difficulties for the work of courts in the north and be used politically by Belgrade. In the long term, however, the professor believes that sustainable integration cannot be achieved through politically agreed collective returns, but through individual participation, respect for the Constitution and equal competition.
Krasniqi concludes that the decision can contribute to strengthening the rule of law only if it is immediately followed by the selection of qualified judges and employees from the Serbian community, as well as concrete measures to guarantee northern residents effective access to justice. According to him, responsibility must remain individual, while the integration of institutions must continue to be a strategic objective of the Republic of Kosovo.
