The court stressed that each of the four defendants bears individual responsibility, but at the same time determined that they coordinated their actions and reached an agreement to pursue a common criminal objective.

Judge Smith underlined that the group jointly established checkpoints, assigned tasks and roles to their collaborators to carry out this plan, and issued statements to spread their ideas and strategies.

The trial panel also found that the defendants guaranteed the perpetrators of criminal offenses full immunity from prosecution.

Judge Charles Smith is reading the trial panel’s conclusions regarding the allegation of unlawful killings, treated as a war crime.

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After more than three years of trial, the Special Court in The Hague is expected to announce today at 10:00 the verdict against former KLA leaders Hashim Thaçi, Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi and Jakup Krasniqi.

The decision will be announced by Trial Panel II, composed of three voting judges and one reserve judge. The panel is headed by American Charles L. Smith III, who has a long career in the American judicial system and has served for years as a judge in the state of Iowa.

He has also been an EULEX judge in Kosovo, including at the country’s Supreme Court, and in the Kosovo Specialist Chambers he is precisely the one presiding over the trial panel in this case.

A member of the panel is also the German judge Christoph Barthe, who has extensive experience in criminal and international justice.

He has served as a public prosecutor at the Federal Court of Justice in Germany, where he has also dealt with war crimes and genocide cases, and has been part of the panel that has examined the evidence and testimony throughout the process.

The third voting member is Swiss Guénaël Mettraux, whose career is closely tied to international criminal law.

He has worked on war crimes cases, has had experience as a defense lawyer and advisor before several international courts, has served in structures of international justice, and is a professor of international criminal law.

As reserve judge has been appointed Irishman Fergal Gaynor, who has long experience in international justice and has worked on war crimes cases.

He has served in proceedings before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, and in this process holds the role of reserve judge of the trial panel.

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On September 16, 2026, at 10:00 a.m., the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague will deliver the first-instance judgment in the case against Hashim Thaçi, Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi and Jakup Krasniqi.

After a process that lasted several years and included 234 days of court hearings, the decision will be handed down by Trial Panel II, composed of American judge Charles L. Smith III, German judge Christoph Barthe and Swiss judge Guénaël Mettraux.

Fergal Gaynor of Ireland is part of the trial panel as a reserve judge. The rules of the Specialist Chambers stipulate that he does not vote or express a position on the panel’s decisions, except if he is appointed to replace one of the regular judges.

The judgment is adopted by a majority of the three members of the trial panel. If they fail to reach a unanimous position, a separate or dissenting opinion may be attached to the decision.

Charles L. Smith III presides over Trial Panel II and also serves as vice president of the Specialist Chambers.

The American judge has previously held a role in Kosovo’s justice system. He served as an EULEX judge from 2010 to 2013, while from 2011 to 2013 he was a member of the Supreme Court of Kosovo.

Christoph Barthe is a German jurist with a long career in criminal and international law.

He has served as a prosecutor at Germany’s Federal Court of Justice, where he worked on the prosecution of cases involving war crimes and genocide.

Swiss judge Guénaël Mettraux has extensive experience in international criminal justice.

During his career, Mettraux has worked on cases examined by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia and the International Criminal Court.

The panel’s fourth judge is Ireland’s Fergal Gaynor, who has followed the proceedings in the role of reserve judge.

Gaynor does not take part in voting on the judgment unless he is officially appointed to replace one of the three regular judges.

The four accused face a total of ten counts in the indictment.

Six charges concern allegations of crimes against humanity, namely persecution, imprisonment, other inhumane acts, torture, murder and enforced disappearance.

The other four counts relate to alleged war crimes: unlawful or arbitrary arrest and detention, cruel treatment, torture and murder.

Thaçi, Veseli, Selimi and Krasniqi have denied all the charges and pleaded not guilty.

The trial began on April 3, 2023. During the trial, 134 people testified: 125 witnesses called by the Prosecution, two by the victims’ representative and seven by the defense teams.

On September 16, 2026, Smith, Barthe and Mettraux will assess, for each count of the indictment and for each accused person, whether the Prosecution has proved guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

The decision to be announced is a first-instance ruling and may be challenged through an appeal before a panel of the Specialist Chambers’ Court of Appeals.

Hashim Thaçi, Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi and Jakup Krasniqi have been in detention in The Hague since November 2020.

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September 16 marks the long-awaited moment when Kosovo will learn the fate of the former senior commanders of the Kosovo Liberation Army.

On Wednesday, following a trial that lasted 234 days, the final judgment will be announced.

Hashim Thaçi, the country’s former president, Kadri Veseli and Jakup Krasniqi, who previously headed Parliament, as well as former MP Rexhep Selimi, are facing allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

All four have pleaded not guilty to all the charges brought by the Specialist Prosecutor’s Office.

The panel that will deliver this historic decision consists of four international judges: American presiding judge Charles Smith III, German judge Christoph Barthe, Swiss judge Guénaël Mettraux and Irish judge Fergal Gaynor.

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Judges have filed a criminal complaint over the failure to pay judges’ and prosecutors’ salaries for August 2026. The complaint calls on the prosecution service to investigate the circumstances and identify the person or persons who made, communicated or implemented the decision that resulted in the salaries not being paid.

Finance Minister Petrit Malaj is among those named in the complaint.

The complaint emphasizes that the situation affects not just one magistrate, but a considerable number of judges and prosecutors across the country.

According to the complaint, the aim is for the prosecution service to establish individual responsibility for the specific actions or omissions that led to the failure to pay the salaries. The judges also clarify that the criminal complaint does not seek to replace the administrative, judicial or institutional remedies available for resolving disputes over how salaries are calculated.

They emphasize that the initiative is not intended to put pressure on any state institution to achieve a specific financial outcome, but solely to have the legality of the actions that led to the blocking of the salaries verified through criminal proceedings.

“Through this complaint, we ask you to consider the factual circumstances and the reasoning concerning your jurisdiction, as well as the criminal liability of those named in the complaint for the criminal offenses set out in its subject matter.
This complaint is being filed because of the situation created by the failure to pay judges’ and prosecutors’ salaries for August 2026, a situation that affects not a single magistrate, but a considerable number of judges and prosecutors in the Republic of Albania.
The complaint is being filed so that the prosecution service can identify the person or persons who made, communicated or implemented the specific decision that resulted in the salaries not being paid.
This complaint does not seek to replace the administrative, judicial or institutional remedies for resolving disputes concerning how salaries are calculated, nor is it intended to put pressure on any state institution to achieve a specific financial outcome. Its sole purpose is the criminal investigation of the legality of the specific actions or omissions that led to the failure to pay the salaries and the determination of individual responsibility under the law,” the complaint states.

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The Ombudsperson Institution has issued an official opinion on the risk allowance received by judges of the Special Department, suggesting that the way they are financially compensated requires a fresh assessment.

The document emphasizes the need to analyze this allowance in light of similar positions within the criminal justice system, with the aim of achieving fairer and more unified treatment.

Based on the principle of equal pay for work of equal value, the Ombudsperson argues that positions carrying comparable responsibilities and social and professional importance should also receive equal financial compensation.

The opinion underlines that, although the institutional roles of judges in this department and those of prosecutors in the Special Prosecution Office are different, both sides deal with exceptionally complex and sensitive criminal cases, bearing significant responsibilities.

According to the Ombudsperson, if the continuing difference in pay between these two bodies is not justified by objective and proportionate arguments, it risks conflicting with the constitutional guarantees of judicial independence in Kosovo.

In the same vein, the opinion states that these financial inequalities may affect perceptions of material security, internal motivation, and the institutional status itself of judges in the Special Department.

The Ombudsperson explains that the purpose of this review is not to harm or reduce the acquired rights of any group, but to open a discussion on a more harmonized approach to determining the risk allowance.

Such harmonization, taking into account the financial treatment of similar functions as well as the specific features and decision-making responsibility of judges, would help strengthen the coherence and efficiency of the justice system as a whole, the document concludes.

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Kosovo’s Acting President, Albulena Haxhiu, has announced the decision to relieve 18 Serbian judges of their duties after they resigned in 2022.

According to Haxhiu, the measure was taken following a recommendation from the Kosovo Judicial Council and was based on her constitutional and legal powers.

“Today, following the proposal of the Kosovo Judicial Council and in accordance with my constitutional and legal responsibilities, I relieved 18 Serbian judges who resigned in 2022 of their duties,” she said.

The decision is part of institutional procedures aimed at addressing the situation created after the Serbian judges resigned from the justice institutions.

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Acting President Albulena Haxhiu announced today that the Kosovo Judicial Council (KJC) has made a decision regarding the Serbian judges and judicial staff who had resigned in 2022.

The OSCE Mission in Kosovo reacted to the decision by calling on the KJC to fill the positions that remain vacant as soon as possible. According to the OSCE, this should be done through transparent, inclusive and merit-based procedures.

“The OSCE Mission in Kosovo takes note of the decision of the Kosovo Judicial Council regarding the requests by Kosovo’s Serbian judges and judicial staff to withdraw their resignations,” the statement said.

The mission stressed that recruitment and appointment processes must be conducted in accordance with the constitutional and legal provisions in force, including rules guaranteeing community representation.

The OSCE considers that a judicial system in which communities are represented is essential to ensuring equal and effective access to justice for all citizens.

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The Kosovo Judicial Council has rejected the request of judges and administrative staff from the Serb community to withdraw their resignations and return to Kosovo’s judicial system.

The decision was approved at today’s meeting with 9 votes in favor, one against, and one abstention. The chair of the KJC, Rrustem Thaqi, did not take a stance in the vote, while member Ivana Milenković voted against.

Following this decision, the names of the judges and staff members who had resigned are expected to be forwarded to the acting President of Kosovo, Albulena Haxhiu. This step will pave the way for the procedure for their dismissal from duty.

Haxhiu welcomed the KJC’s decision and announced that she will act as soon as the proposals are officially submitted to her.

“I welcome the proposal of the Kosovo Judicial Council for the dismissal from duty of the Serb judges who had resigned in 2022,” Haxhiu wrote.

She indicated that any action will be taken on the basis of her constitutional and legal competencies.

“In accordance with constitutional and legal responsibilities, as soon as the Kosovo Judicial Council sends the proposals, I will undertake actions for their dismissal from duty,” she declared, as reported by “Bota sot.”

The resignations of the Serb judges and staff were submitted in November 2022, as part of the withdrawal of Serb representatives from Kosovo’s institutions.

During that period, dozens of Serb judges, prosecutors, and administrative workers withdrew from justice institutions in the north of Kosovo.

Their withdrawal was part of a broader wave of resignations from Kosovo’s institutions, which also included members of the Kosovo Police and other institutional officials.

The resignations took place within a coordinated political strategy led by Serb political structures and official Belgrade. For this reason, today’s decision by the KJC is also considered a rejection of the possibility that an institutional withdrawal, carried out under tense political circumstances, could be undone simply by annulling the resignations.

The issue of the return of Serb judges has returned to the center of political and institutional debate in recent months.

Acting President Albulena Haxhiu had asked the KJC to conclude the relevant procedures regarding the resignations. In July, the Council meeting did not take place due to a lack of quorum, while the review of the issue remained on the agenda.

Acting Prime Minister Albin Kurti had also stated that the judges who left could not return simply through a political decision. He had linked their departure to the developments of 2022.

With the latest decision of the KJC, the procedure moves to the next phase. The proposals are expected to be sent to acting President Haxhiu, who has made it clear that she will undertake actions for their dismissal from duty.

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The request to annul the resignations of judges and staff from the Serbian community has been rejected by the Kosovo Judicial Council (KJC).

The decision was made during a session held today, in which 9 members voted in favor of the rejection, while one vote against and one abstention were recorded.

Rrustem Thaqi, chair of the KJC, chose to abstain, while Ivana Milenkoviq, a member of this justice body, was the only one to vote against the proposal.

The list containing the names of those who resigned will be forwarded to Acting President Albulena Haxhiu, so that proceedings can be initiated to dismiss them from their official positions.

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