A session of the Kosovo Judicial Council scheduled for today did not take place. Only five of the council’s ten members showed up, and the vote on reinstating the resignations of Serbian judges, the ninth item on the agenda, was never opened.
Rustem Taci chaired the session. He was joined by Mirjeta Salja, Valentina Sopjani and Agron Maksuni, while Ahmet Imami took part by video link. Once it was established that there was no quorum, Taci commented on the absences from the chair.
Four of them notified me that they would not attend the meeting. None of the members submitted a request for leave. Such conduct cannot be allowed.
The reasons given by the absent members:
- Baskim Hiseni, sick leave
- Afrdita Bitici, annual leave
- Besnik Bislimaj, family celebration
- Fahret Velija and Ivana Milenkovic sent no notice at all
None of them filed a formal request for leave. The agenda had 16 items, and not one came up for a vote.
Second Time in Two Weeks
The council reached the same outcome on July 24. That session was cut short after members walked out over a disagreement with Taci about the agenda, and quorum collapsed before the item on Serbian judges was reached. We reported on Friday’s announcement of today’s session, when the issue was placed back on the agenda.
The request now awaiting a decision arrived on June 19. Kosovo’s acting president, Aljbulena Hadziju, wrote to the council asking it to close the matter of the resignations filed by Serbian judges and support staff. Those resignations were submitted collectively in November 2022, in protest at the abolition of the vehicle license plates issued by Serbia.
With the judges and prosecutors gone, the judiciary in northern Kosovo was left with almost no employees from the Serbian community. That halted implementation of the judiciary agreement from the 2015 Brussels dialogue, under which Serbian judges and prosecutors joined Kosovo’s judicial system in 2017. The issue resurfaced in mid July, when more than 20 members of the Serbian community employed at the Basic Court and Basic Prosecution in North Mitrovica asked to withdraw their resignations.
Why Did the Prosecutorial Council Move Faster?
Because it put the same question to a vote and closed it in a single day. Kosovo’s Prosecutorial Council rejected the requests of five Serbian prosecutors and 15 members of support staff to withdraw their resignations on July 20, and by July 21 Hadziju had already signed the decrees dismissing seven Serbian prosecutors. The European Union reacted to those moves, saying they were not in line with the law and calling on institutions in Pristina to refrain from steps that would block the return of Serbian judicial staff.
The difference in pace between the two councils can be measured directly. It took the Prosecutorial Council 24 hours to go from session to signed decree. Seven weeks have passed since Hadziju’s letter to the Judicial Council, and debate on the Serbian judges’ requests has yet to begin.
What Happens Without a Decision
The Prosecutorial Council approved a competition for 34 new prosecutors, due to be published on August 17. Ten seats are reserved for members of minority communities, including the Serbian community. For prosecutors, in other words, the process of filling vacant posts is already under way, even before the question of their return was settled.
The same pattern could play out in the courts. Every month without a decision brings the council closer to the point where judicial posts in the north are filled through a competition, leaving the request to withdraw the resignations moot. No new date has been set for the Judicial Council’s next session.