Kosovo Diary - 8 weeks in

I have now been in Kosovo some 8 weeks.  It has been an intense period.  Arriving at the height of the summer, the first issue was the heat.  Having deployed from an ever damp and dismal UK, the long hot days of Kosovo take some getting used to; the evenings sampling the local bars and restaurants have been ample compensation. 

The first two weeks were largely spent in the capital of Kosovo, Pristina.  The process of being booked in and receiving identity cards proceeded smoothly enough.  This was followed by the induction course.  The course was a marathon.  Over the period of 4 days, it sought to give an insight into the various components of the EULEX Mission, including Justice, Police and Customs.  It also talked us through the process of “reporting”.  This is an integral part of the Mission.  With so many governments involved, and with the EU in Brussels, the process of reporting events on the ground back up the chain of command and to the separate contributing governments is an onerous, and time consuming process. 

However the induction course also provided a great opportunity to get to know other people from all around Europe deployed at the same time as me.  This is one of the real joys of the experience so far.  So far, I have been working with Poles, Swedes, Fins, Germans, French, Swiss, Romanians, Italians, and Croats amongst others.  There cannot be many opportunities that allow you to work so closely with people from so many different cultures and backgrounds. 

Having completed the course, I was posted to the District Court in Prizren.  There were two civil judges already here and one criminal judge.  I completed the team.  Against the backdrop of giving myself an intensive self taught course on applicable law (international law, Yugoslav war and Kosovo law), I set about tackling my first cases.  My first day in Court was a War Crimes case linked to ethnic cleansing.  I also have cases in murder, organized crime, racketeering, people trafficking, rape and judicial corruption. 

The work here is not limited to court work.  I have been assigned to two working groups: the Domestic Violence & People Trafficking Group, and the Eulex Judges/ Kosovo Judicial Institute Liaison group on the implementation of new law.  Both areas of work offer some interesting challenges which I shall report on in future blogs. 

Another significant part of the work is the monitoring, mentoring and advising (MMA) of our local counterparts.  This is truly significant work.  EULEX judges have executive powers to try the most serious cases.   However, there will come a time, whenever that may be, when EULEX will have packed its bags and gone home.  At that point, whether the justice system works is entirely dependent on the quality of the local judiciary. The Kosovo Judicial Council are carrying out an ongoing process of re-vetting the local judiciary. This has deeply affected the moral of the local judges and has left significant shortfalls in manpower.  One local municipal court, which should be running with 6 judges, is currently functioning with only one.  Inevitably this causes significant delays to cases and leaves the one remaining judge under tremendous pressure.  This should not be understood to be a criticism of a necessary process.  The end result is likely to be a more efficient and sharper judiciary which the public can trust.  But speed is needed to complete this process and re-fill those gaps that have been created as soon as possible.  It is against this background that the MMA activities are based.  The point of the MMA is to identify areas of deficiency and work with the local judges to resolve those problems.  The ultimate objective is that when EULEX does complete its mission in Kosovo, a fully functioning, independent, strong judicial system will be in place.