UNMIK/PR/888
Wednesday, 11 December 2002

Forty two Judges and Prosecutors Appointed

PRISTINA - Under the authority of the SRSG, 42 judges and prosecutors have been appointed in Kosovo, as recommended by the Kosovo Prosecutorial and Judicial Council (KJPC).

These include 19 Albanians, 21 are Serbs, one Bosniac and one Gorani. This represents a necessary and timely advancement in the establishment of a multi-ethnic professional and impartial judiciary in Kosovo. The official swearing-in ceremony will take place on Thursday, 12 December 2002.

Under Section 9.4.8 of theConstitutional Framework, the SRSG appoints judges and prosecutors from lists of candidates recommended by the Kosovo Judicial and Prosecutorial Council (KJPC) and endorsed by the Assembly of Kosovo. Under its own provisional Rules of Procedure, the Assembly must submit the list of recommended candidates to the SRSG for final action, with its advice and observations within 10 working days of the date on which the recommendation was submitted.

KJPC received a total of 186 applications and shortlisted 86 of them with an account of each candidate’s professional history. In making their choice, the KJPC took into consideration inputs from the President of the Supreme Court of Kosovo and Presidents of the District Courts. The Council also agreed upon a definition of discriminatory practices, which was taken into careful consideration when the candidates were assessed. The KJPC then submitted its final list of 42 carefully selected candidates to the Assembly on 1 November 2002.

On 11 November 2002 the Chairperson of the KJPC and members of its Secretariat met with the Committee on Judicial, Legislative and Constitutional Framework Matters, in order to answer any questions the Committee may have had regarding the recommended candidates and make available any additional information in the KJPC's possession that the Committee might require. On 18 November 2002, a request was made by the Assembly for an extension of its deadline till the end of November 2002, in order to ask for more information on the candidates and this was granted by the SRSG.

On 25 November KJPC delivered a letter to the Assembly to offer any further information required. However, neither was such a request presented to the KJPC, nor did the Assembly issue its recommendations on the candidates to the SRSG. In the absence of any objections from the Assembly the candidates were appointed according to the recommendation of the KJPC as they stand.