Speech by the Head of the EU Office in Kosovo, Thomas Szunyog, on the occasion of the Annual Conference of Prosecutors (VIDEO)
Your Excellency Acting President, dear Mr. Chief State Prosecutor Lumezi, dear Mr. Chair of KPC Maloku, dear Minister of Justice Selimi, Ambassadors Kosnett, Kolly and Lobbezoo, ladies and gentlemen.
Thank you very much for inviting me to speak on behalf of the EU. It is a pleasure to have the opportunity, even in this unfortunate time of Covid, to join your conference in which a number of important issues will be discussed.
Prosecution is one of the main pillars of Rule of Law. Establishing and maintaining an efficient, independent and accountable prosecution is a difficult, complex and continuous process.
We are aware of the numerous challenges that you, members of the prosecution service, face in your daily work.
On a daily basis, you are faced with
The constraints of the Covid19 pandemic,
The pressure of case backlogs,
The limited human and financial resources,
The implementation of the Court Management Information System with changing working procedures,
The lack of support staff
And occasional undue influence on you and your cases.
Despite these challenges, we still believe that better results are possible, in particular in the fight against corruption and organized crime.
In this regard, cases should be handled in a more efficient and professional way. We have high expectations as concerns the specialization within the State Prosecution, especially in regard to the SPRK (Special Prosecution Office of the Republic of Kosovo)
It is also important to underline that a prosecutor's job starts with leadership on investigation and it is not finished once the indictment is filed. The fight against crime is only won with final convictions in court.
Furthermore, asset confiscation is essential to combat economic crime. The number of preliminary confiscation of assets during the criminal proceedings is high. However, the number of final confiscations still remains low.
In order to further facilitate the recovery of the proceeds of crime, and to effectively confiscate the assets, the EU and all international partners encourage Kosovo to quickly establish the fund for this specific purpose. Progress should be made on the implementation of the legislation related with confiscation, in particular on the Law on Extended Powers of Confiscation.
We do also hope that the draft on the new Criminal Procedure Code will be finally approved and adopted during 2021. The new legislation introduces several amendments to the criminal proceedings that if properly implemented will hopefully have a positive impact in the effectiveness of prosecution of cases.
For further strengthening the rule of law and increasing accountability, efficiency and integrity of the institutions, we welcome the efforts in preparing the Rule of Law Strategy, based on the Functional Review. This is a joint effort of ministries, the judiciary and prosecution and other state institutions, as well as international partners, and civil society.
In October, the European Union has launched the Kosovo Justice Sector Program, to strengthen the judicial and prosecutorial system. This program, will last for the next 3 years.
Prosecution is one of the key institutions that can benefit from this project that is implemented in cooperation with relevant services in Germany, Netherlands and Croatia. I believe it is a great opportunity for you to work with your European counterparts in reinforcing your capacities.
Finally, let me mention the EU-funded project on Economic Crime, also known as PECK project. This project can assist prosecutors that work on the most complex economic crimes with direct mentoring and on-the-job training by high-level experts from Council of Europe Member States. I hope that the prosecution will make active use of all this support.
Let me conclude by saying that the European Union will continue to support you in your actions to ensure an independent, efficient transparent and accountable prosecutorial service. May I wish you all the best for your Conference today.