Tales from Kosovo |
last count , including the US , but not Serbia or Russia . It has about 2 million people , the youngest population in Europe , and educational standards are high . The vast majority — about 90 %— are ethnic Albanian , but with various Serbian enclaves . It ’ s primarily a Muslim country , mostly secular in Pristina the capital , but much more observant in the smaller cities and villages .
Kosovo is now a constitutional democracy with a President , Prime Minister and Parliament . Unfortunately , the government is often dysfunctional and seems to grind to a halt over seemingly minor events . Most observers believe that corruption is rampant at all levels of government and society . Indeed , many high government officials , including judges , have been indicted and prosecuted by EULEX .
Unemployment country-wide is very high , especially among young people , and the average wage is low , although there is a flourishing underground economy . The standard of living in the capital is much higher than in the villages . There is limited foreign investment and hardly any industry .
Many of the young , well-educated people despair about their future in a corrupt society with a weak economy and few jobs . Unfortunately , it seems the best way to get a job is through nepotism , or paying bribes or providing sexual favors . It is believed that many would leave if they could .
KLA veterans are prominent in politics and government , including the present President , and are still worshipped as war heroes . There is also a very strong clan mentality which lends itself to organized crime , routine witness intimidation and a strong fear of testifying truthfully , or testifying at all , for fear of retribution . On the positive side , my experience tells me that Kosovo Albanians love Americans because of our support during the war and during their drive for independence . Hillary and Bill Clinton were wildly popular and there is a large statue of Bill Clinton on Bill Clinton Avenue in the capital .
EULEX
EULEX was created and funded by the 28 countries of the European Union , and
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supported by the United States . Its mission is to maintain stability and improve the rule of law in Kosovo . When I was there , EULEX had about 1,200 international employees and about 1,000 local employees . The vast majority worked in customs , policing , corrections , and support services . There was a small contingent of about 30 U . S . police officers , as well as 2-3 prosecutors and 2-3 judges , but not necessarily all at the same time . Indeed , there were long periods when I was the only American judge .
EULEX is now in the process of downsizing and has been handing over responsibility to local institutions including the judiciary . Its present mandate expires in June 2018 . During my time , there were only about 35-40 international judges , and only about a third were criminal trial judges . There were also a significant number of international prosecutors and law clerks .
EULEX had criminal jurisdiction over war crimes occurring during the war of 1998- 99 , as well as other serious crimes occurring since the war , such as terrorism , organized crime , human trafficking , drug trafficking , corruption and inter-ethnic violence . The international criminal judges were embedded in the Kosovo justice system . We followed Kosovo law and procedure , and shared courthouses and facilities with local judges .
EULEX cases were heard and decided by three judge panels , — with no juries . The panels consisted of two international judges and one local judge on the sound theory that the local judiciary was not prepared to hold a majority in sensitive cases . The presiding judge of the panel was always an international . However , the composition of the panels is now changing to a local majority as EULEX transfers more and more responsibility to the local judiciary . The judges and law clerks I worked with were from a laundry list of European countries : the UK , Germany , Poland , Norway , Denmark , Portugal , Latvia , Ireland , Finland , Italy , France , the Netherlands , Bulgaria , Slovenia , Romania and the Czech Republic .
Reaching decisions in individual cases could be an arduous and frustrating task . We all had different ways of interpreting
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substantive law and procedure and weighing evidence . Common law jurisprudence was a novelty and did not mesh well with the various European systems , including Kosovo ’ s . Also , my impression was that the local judges were always looking over their shoulder in sensitive cases involving political figures or war heroes . Intimidation of Kosovar judges and their families was common , and corruption within the judiciary was also a constant theme .
The international judges were organized into the Assembly of Judges in EULEX with its own chain of command separate from the usual bureaucratic chain of command . This arrangement was designed to protect judicial independence , and worked well . EULEX ’ s working language was English which gave me a real advantage as a native speaker . In court , everything had to be translated into English from Albanian , Serbian or any other language and vice versa , which could be time consuming and confusing .
Surprisingly , there was no code of ethics governing EULEX judges . I suggested adopting a code at my first Assembly meeting , after I observed some ethically questionable behavior by some of my judicial colleagues , but there was little interest among my international cohorts .
Legal System
The courts were organized into regional trial courts , referred to as basic courts or first instance courts , a court of appeals ( as of 2013 ) and a Supreme Court . The higher courts also had a majority of international judges when deciding EULEX cases .
The codes of criminal law and procedure , while superficially similar to our own codes , incorporated a very different judicial philosophy based on the civil law system . Discretion was limited or non-existent . If something wasn ’ t specifically authorized in the code you couldn ’ t do it , and if something was stated in the code you had to do it , regardless of whether it made sense in a particular case . There was no such thing as the inherent power of the court , or the power of contempt , or procedural flexibility and innovation .
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