On March 30, 2023, Humanitarian Law Center Kosovo (HLCK) published the Annual Report on monitoring war crime trials in Kosovo for 2022, entitled “War crimes trials: no visible progress”.
During the Annual Report launch, HLCK also held a round table with experts in the field of war crimes, to discuss the topic “War crime trials in absentia – The right way forward?” .
The introductory remarks in this conference were delivered by Pauline Menthonnex Gacaferri - Deputy Head of Mission at the Swiss Embassy in Kosovo, by Nushe Kuka Mekaj - Judge of the Basic Court in Pejë / Peć, as representative of Kosovo Judicial Council.
Ms. Pauline Menthonnex Gacaferri considered that judging from the title of this report, there were still many challenges in trying these crimes and that signing of an agreement between the judicial institutions of Kosovo and those of Serbia would have immensely facilitated this process.
Ms. Nushe Kuka Mekaj stated that the Kosovo Judicial Council will continue investing in building capacities for processing of these cases.
After the introductory remarks, the report was presented by Mr. Amer Alija, who, among other things, mentioned the findings and recommendations of this report.
The panelists on the topic “War crime trials in absentia – The right way forward?” included lawyer Artan Qerkini, professor Visar Morina, prosecutor Drita Hajdari and judge Kujtim Krasniqi.
Lawyer Qerkini spoke about the legal amendments made within the Criminal Procedure Code and conditions that must be met in order to start with trials in absentia.
Professor Morina, as a former member of the Venice Commission, presented the positions and recommendations of this Commission regarding the Law on trials in absentia.
Prosecutor Hajdari spoke about the challenges that the Special Prosecution Office has been facing since the transfer of war crimes files from the EULEX Mission.
Judge Krasniqi spoke about the work of the Basic Court of Prishtinë/Priština Special Department and about the war crime cases that this Department is handling.
Representatives of the judiciary, civil society organizations, media and students of the Law Faculty contributed greatly to the discussion at this round table.
Here you can read the full report on monitoring of war crimes trials in Kosovo for 2022.