William Schabas, a professor of international criminal law, has said that although the Kosovo Specialist Chambers may have formal jurisdiction to investigate new discoveries of mass graves, primary responsibility for prosecuting crimes committed by Serbian forces lies with the domestic judiciary.
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In an interview with the newspaper “Bota sot,” Schabas discussed the possibility of these serious crimes, which may constitute violations of international humanitarian law, being addressed by the Specialist Chambers, as well as the legal avenues available to victims’ families who are still awaiting justice.
He explained that, from a legal perspective, there is a theoretical possibility that the Specialist Chambers could exercise jurisdiction, but stressed that the court’s original mission was entirely different.
“In principle, the Specialist Chambers can prosecute crimes committed by nationals of Kosovo or the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, or crimes in which the victims were nationals of Kosovo or the FRY, provided that they occurred between January 1998 and December 2000. In theory, therefore, they may have jurisdiction,” Schabas was quoted as saying.
However, he stressed that the Specialist Chambers were established specifically to address allegations of crimes linked to leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army, who later became involved in government.
“This court was established because of crimes allegedly committed by KLA leaders, who were already part of Kosovo’s institutions and whose cases had not been addressed by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. The assessment was that the domestic justice system would never investigate these cases,” the professor explained.
When it comes to suspected perpetrators who are members of the Serbian forces, Schabas believes the situation is different and does not involve the same political obstacles that justified the creation of this mechanism.
“If the crimes are suspected of having been committed by Serbs, then the situation is different. In this case, Kosovo’s legal system is capable of prosecuting these crimes. The political obstacles that existed in cases related to the KLA are not present. Therefore, the rights of victims should be upheld through Kosovo’s domestic judicial system,” Schabas said.
Finally, he expressed strong doubts that the mandate of the Specialist Chambers would be expanded, highlighting the high cost as a key obstacle.
“The Specialist Chambers represent a very costly alternative, and I do not believe that their funders, essentially the European Union, will be willing to make further investments to expand their mandate,” he concluded.
