STATEMENT OF THE KOSOVO PROSECUTORIAL COUNCIL
Prishtinë, 9 March 2022 – The Kosovo Prosecutorial Council (KPC) through this statement, expresses deep concern over the approval of the Draft Law on the Kosovo Prosecutorial Council by the Government of the Republic of Kosovo in its meeting held today on March 9, 2022, without notifying the Prosecutorial Council of the final draft, which was under discussion by the working group.
KPC informs the public that since the drafting of the Rule of Law Strategy and the initiatives of the Ministry of Justice to draft the draft laws for the prosecutorial system, although unilaterally started by the Ministry of Justice and only for the prosecutorial system, we, nevertheless, together with international partners we have contributed to implement this strategy and to draft the Draft Law on the Kosovo Prosecutorial Council, which has undergone successive changes, not being drafted in principle according to the recommendations of the Venice Commission.
This haste of the Ministry of Justice to proceed quickly with this draft law, without sharing the final draft with the actors of this process and without waiting for additional comments from the Venice Commission, as well as without taking into account the proposals issued by the Strategy for rule of law and those of the representatives of the prosecutorial system, is a tendency to undermine the independence of the Prosecutorial Council and the State Prosecutor, as independent and constitutional institutions.
This practice clearly shows that the sponsor of this draft law, in this case the Ministry of Justice, consciously and in the name of reforms intends to do the opposite of the reform - blocking and de-functionalizing the prosecutorial system.
Any initiative of this kind, without respecting the separation of powers, cooperation and mutual coordination, brings failure and creates space for external interference in the Kosovo Prosecutorial Council.
