Lajm - Kpk | Sistemi Prokurorial i Republikës së Kosovës
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Chairman Maloku presented the one-year work of the KPC

Pristina, 30 December 2021 – The Chairman of the Kosovo Prosecutorial Council, Jetish Maloku, at the year-end press conference, presented the one-year activity (2021) of the Kosovo Prosecutorial Council, the results and challenges faced by the Council in carrying out its mandate, as well as planning for year 2022.

Chairman Maloku on this occasion said: "Let me first inform you that this year we are facing COVID-19 in Kosovo and the Council has implemented all decisions of the Government in this regard and has accurately implemented the crisis management plan in the prosecutorial system, drafted in collaboration with the British project.

The council has held 16 meetings this year and has rendered nearly 200 decisions, which have been in the service of the prosecutorial system. In addition, the Council has held numerous other meetings through its standing and ad hoc committees, and other bodies.

During this year, the Council continued to participate in the meetings of the Working Group on accountability modalities and the inclusion of vetting in the justice system in Kosovo, where it contributed to the drafting of this concept paper.

At the same time, the Council has continued to actively contribute to the working groups of the functional review of the rule of law sector in Kosovo.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Let me emphasize below some of the key achievements and work done by the Council, based on its constitutional and legal mandate.

The Council, in cooperation and with the support of international partners, during 2021 has drafted and approved three regulations related to the personal file of prosecutors, transfer and promotion of state prosecutors and case management through the electronic system (CMIS). The Council has also amended the Administrative Instruction on the orientation norm for prosecutors.

In order to fill the positions and needs of the prosecution, a competition was opened for the recruitment of 16 new prosecutors, while in November of this year, a qualifying test and a written test were held in December. The commission has published the list of candidates who have passed the written test, who will be subject to the interview.

Also, during this year, the Council has elected the Chief Prosecutor of the Basic Prosecution in Gjakova.

The Council, during 2021, in order to handle serious criminal cases and at the request of prosecutors has promoted 19 State Prosecutors from the General Department to the Department for Serious Crimes and the Department for Juveniles, in all Basic Prosecution Offices, Special Prosecution Office, The Appellate Prosecution and the Office of the Chief State Prosecutor.

The Council has also temporarily transferred 4 prosecutors to the basic prosecution offices, in order to support the prosecution offices in handling criminal cases.

Among the objectives of the Council for this year have been the accountability, professionalism and discipline of prosecutors. Therefore, during 2021, KPC has received 14 requests for initiation of disciplinary proceedings against prosecutors and has established 13 investigative panels. During this period, disciplinary measures were imposed, which have taken final form and have been published on the website of the Kosovo prosecutorial system, except for written non-public reprimand, as provided by law.

Through the Commission for Evaluation of Prosecutors' Performance, the Council, during this year, has finalized the performance evaluation for 65 prosecutors, in which case 53 prosecutors with permanent mandates and 12 prosecutors with initial mandates have been evaluated. With this, the Council has fulfilled the Annual Plan for evaluating the performance of prosecutors for 2021.

The strategic plan of the prosecutorial system 2019-2021 will be completed at the end of this year, therefore, the Council, with the support of international partners, has drafted the new strategic plan of the prosecutorial system 2022-2024, which is expected to be approved in beginning of 2022.

During 2021, KPC has started very important processes, among them is the reform of the administration of the prosecutorial system, in which case it is at the end of drafting bylaws and a new structure.

The prosecutorial system, during the nine-month period of this year, from 372 received cases of corruption has solved 285 cases, respectively has solved 77% of the received cases. Priority during this year were also treated PPN criminal reports in cases of corruption, in which case during the nine months 2021, out of 384 PPN information received, Kosovo prosecutors have processed and completed 277 PPN information or 72% of cases received.

Whereas, regarding economic crimes, out of 351 received cases, 341 cases have been solved, respectively, 97% of the received cases have been solved.

So the current reports show an efficiency in dealing with cases of corruption and economic crimes.

In the field of information technology we have successfully implemented the main phase of the ICT / CMIS Project, which is co-financed by the Norwegian Government.

As a result, CMIS is being implemented in all basic prosecution offices, the Special Prosecution Office and the Appellate Prosecution Office, including the automatic distribution of cases to prosecutors. CMIS has also been developed for the Office of the Chief State Prosecutor and we are already in the staff training phase. During February - March 2022 it is planned to be implemented in three instances of prosecutions.

During this year we have managed to advance the electronic exchange of data with the Kosovo Police system, enabling full communication between the prosecutions - police. From the total number of cases received through the prosecutor's office, we received 30,197 or 72.4% of cases electronically from the Police and as a result we managed to save the budget of € 15,844.

The liaison between the prosecution and the court has also been improved so that cases can be sent first electronically and then physically. This will affect the removal of physical registers, or manual work and its transformation into electronic one.

The Juvenile Chamber has been inaugurated in the Basic Prosecution Office of Gjakova, which is equipped with all the necessary things, a donation from the American Embassy and with this we have managed to have such rooms for juvenile department prosecutors in six basic prosecutions.

Regarding the budget, the budget of the Kosovo Prosecutorial Council for 2021, after the budget reviews was 12,704,576.41 euros.

So far, the Kosovo Prosecutorial Council has realized more than 98% of the total budget for all economic categories and budget programs.

The Council's budget, approved for 2022, is 17,144,178 euros, which is the highest budget that the prosecutorial system has had, but even for this year it has not been fully approved according to our requests and needs.

The Internal Audit Unit, according to the Annual Plan 2021, has completed five regular audits, the purpose of which was to evaluate the internal control system.

The Prosecution Performance Review Unit during 2021 has supported the permanent and ad hoc committees of the Council, has prepared working reports, statistical and analytical reports on the needs of the prosecutorial system and has coordinated the training of prosecutors and support staff.

The Council has continued the policy of open and professional cooperation with all local and international institutions.

Among the local institutions I would single out: Kosovo Judicial Council, the Academy of Justice, the Assembly, the Government, and the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Chamber of Advocates, the Ombudsman, the Kosovo Police and other law enforcement bodies.

Among the institutions, donors and international partners, I would like to emphasize the cooperation with the Embassy of the United States of America, the EU Office in Pristina, UNDP and other United Nations agencies, the Embassy of the United Kingdom, the Embassy of Norway, the Embassy of the Netherlands and other embassies, EULEX, the Council of Europe, the German Foundation for International Legal Cooperation (IRZ), GIZ and other institutions and organizations. 

An important part of the cooperation is also expressed in the European integration processes, responding at any time to all requests for reporting and various project proposals for project financing.

The Chairman of the Council during 2021, with the authorization of the Council, has signed three cooperation agreements, as follows:

  • KPC-KJC agreement on electronic data exchange by CMIS;
  • Memorandum of Understanding between KPC, CIVIKOS and PCK on capacity building and communication channels for reporting cases identified by the media and civil society;
  • Agreement between KPC and the Academy of Justice on mandatory training and additional training for prosecutors.

KPC has approved the Strategy for communication with the public 2021-2023, this strategy, which in its content is more advanced compared to the previous one.

The prosecutorial system has continued to publish the 24-hour Report.

The website of the prosecutorial system is enriched on a daily basis with new information that can serve the citizens.

The Kosovo Prosecutorial Council will not stop working for communication, transparency and accountability in the prosecutorial system to be advanced and at the same time to increase public trust in this system.

The Council, in cooperation with the Academy of Justice and other local and international partners, has organized various training programs, based on the needs of the prosecutorial system.

  1. CHALLENGES DURING 2021

During our activity for 2021, in addition to achievements, of course we had various challenges, while some of them are, as follows:

  • The situation created by the COVID-19 pandemic;
  • Failure to complete the composition of the Council with two (2) non-prosecutor members, although the selection and technical procedures for announcing the vacancy are not the responsibility of the Council;
  • Insufficient budget to cover all created liabilities;
  • Lack of legislation to regulate expertise.
  • Specialization of prosecutors for dealing with characteristic crimes (corruption, organized crime, economic crime and cybercrime);
  • Non-compliance with the principle of transparency through some media publications that directly affect the damage to public trust in the prosecutorial system;
  • Physical infrastructure (lack of space for the Council and the Office of the Chief State Prosecutor) and
  • Increasing the professional capacities of the staff of the prosecutorial system, etc.
  1. Council work planning for 2022

The Strategic Plan of the prosecutorial system 2022-2024 plans the strategic objectives and requirements arising from the European integration process. This plan is expected to be approved in early 2022 and will be the basis for drafting the work plans of the Council and the State Prosecutor.

The Council will continue to work on bylaws to reorganize the administration and organizational structure, based on possible legal changes.

During 2022, the process of recruiting 16 new prosecutors is expected to be completed.

In conclusion, I would like to inform you that in accordance with the law, the Council will publish the Work Report for 2021 at the beginning of 2022 and will make it available on its official website and in hard copy, in which case the public and the media will to be informed in detail about our activities during this year.

On this occasion, I thank you, representatives of the respected media for the cooperation we had during this year and wish you a Happy New Year 2022, expressing once again the readiness of the Council and the prosecutorial system in general for the further advancement of cooperation in the future.”