8 July
A 14-member Kosovo Assembly delegation, led by Assembly speaker, Nexhat
Daci, arrived in Tirana for a three day official visit. This was the
first such visit by assembly members to Albania. The delegation was
invited by the chairman of the Albanian Parliament Presidency, Servet
Pëllumbi.
9 July
SRSG Michael Steiner held a press briefing in Pristina, during
which he briefed the media on several issues, including his recent visit
to Belgrade. He reported on the agreement on the recognition of license
plates, support by Belgrade for a multi-ethnic police force in Kosovo
and the elimination of parallel structures. Other issues included privatization,
rule of law, decentralization and the question of returns to their homes
of internally-replacd persons.
10 July
SRSG Michael Steiner began a two-day visit to Vienna, where he
spoke at the OSCE Permanent Council. He later held separate talks with
Austrian President Tomas Klestil and Austrian Foreign Minister Benita
Ferrero-Waldner. Mr. Steiner also visited the Austrian Diplomatic Academy,
where he delivered a speech titled "Kosovo - finishing the job".
UNMIK issued guidelines for the creation of a multi-ethnic judiciary
after judicial officials in Serbia agreed to encourage Kosovo Serb judicial
experts to apply for posts in the Kosovo judiciary. A UNMIK press release
clarified that regardless of ethnicity, any applicant for the post of
judge or prosecutor must meet the criteria set out in UNMIK Regulation
2001/18, "On the establishment of the Kosovo Judicial and Prosecutorial
Council" (KJPC). The KJPC, comprised of 5 international, three
Kosovo Albanian and one Kosovo Serb judicial experts, reviews all applications
for posts of judge and prosecutor. It then creates a short list of candidates
and interviews each candidate before making a recommendation for appointment.
11 July
"Only someone from Kosovo can become a judge in Kosovo", said
Michael Steiner during a press conference in Vienna after meeting with
the OSCE Permanent Council. He added that the applicants would need
to have a university law degree, have passed the relevant examination
for candidates for the judiciary, be of high moral integrity, and not
have a criminal record. An applicant would need three years of relevant
work experience in the field of law to be considered for the position
of a municipal court judge or prosecutor or of a judge of a minor offences
appeal body. Seven years of relevant work experience in the field of
law would be needed by someone applying for the position of a district
court judge or prosecutor. He told the press that reality was ahead
of perception as far as Kosovo is concerned. The streets are cleaner,
potholes have been repaired, there is money in the commercial banks
(belying fears that money would be withdrawn from circulation after
the changeover to the euro). He said that KFOR checkpoints in the enclaves
have become increasingly necessary. The SRSG said the crime rate had
fallen as necessary laws and structures were put in place. These included
the Kosovo Organised Crime Bureau, the Central Criminal Investigating
Unit and most importantly the Kosovan police force. He said that the
zero tolerance for crime policy was popular with ordinary Kosovans.
There was unanimous backing of Mr. Steiner's position by the OSCE Permanent
Council, with particular support coming from the permanent representatives
of the EU, the US, Albania and Canada.
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