Kosovo’s Assembly cleared in first reading a draft law that seeks to fundamentally affect the functioning of the Specialist Chambers in The Hague. The initiative, backed by 91 lawmakers with no votes against, comes a few days after the ruling against former KLA leaders and touches on key points: what the Specialist Chambers can try, for what period, what sentences they can impose, and what happens to cases that fall outside their jurisdiction.
Unanimous first-reading vote, but not without political background
The draft law was backed by all lawmakers who took part in the vote, while the Democratic League of Kosovo did not participate. The initiative was proposed by the PDK and was presented just five days after the September 16 judgment against Hashim Thaçi, Kadri Veseli, Jakup Krasniqi and Rexhep Selimi.
In the accompanying text of the draft law, the need for changes is linked directly to that court ruling and to the trial panel’s findings on a “joint criminal enterprise.” The political timing of the initiative itself has heightened attention over the real purpose of the legal intervention.
Narrower jurisdiction for the Specialist Chambers
The biggest change concerns narrowing the jurisdiction of the Specialist Chambers. Under the draft law, their competence would be tied to the specific allegations in the Council of Europe’s 2011 report, namely accusations directly linked to the extraction, removal and illegal trafficking of human organs, tissues or cells.
Within the same framework would also fall killings, torture and cruel or inhuman treatment at certain detention sites mentioned in the report, but only if they are directly linked to those alleged operations. This would leave outside the Specialist Chambers’ jurisdiction some other war crimes, crimes against humanity or political violence that do not have that connection.
The draft law also narrows the time period. Instead of the current interval from January 1998 to December 2000, it proposes that jurisdiction begin on July 1, 1999 and end on December 31, 2000. Territorial jurisdiction would also be limited only to Kosovo, excluding allegations of crimes committed in northern Albania.
Maximum sentence of 15 years and transfer of cases to Kosovo
The draft law proposes that the maximum sentence the Specialist Chambers can impose be 15 years in prison. According to the reasoning presented, this is based on the principle of the law more favorable to the convicted person, known as lex mitior.
This ceiling would be lower than some of the sentences handed down on September 16, when three of the four convicted men received terms above 15 years. However, the proposed change does not automatically mean overturning existing judgments or releasing those convicted.
For cases that, under the new jurisdiction, would no longer remain within the Specialist Chambers’ competence, the draft law provides for their transfer to Kosovo’s regular judicial system. Along with the cases, the files, evidence and related materials would also be transferred. Detainees in such cases would be brought to Kosovo and would have to appear before a judge within 48 hours for a decision on security measures.
What happens with appeals and where the initiative may run into obstacles
According to PDK’s explanation, current appeal procedures would continue within the existing structure of the Specialist Chambers. If an appeals court were to order a retrial, the newly proposed jurisdiction would then come into play. If the case did not meet the new criteria, it could be transferred to Kosovo.
The draft law also provides that convicted persons could serve their sentences in Kosovo’s correctional institutions, as well as the possibility that they could be subject to a pardon by Kosovo’s president after the ruling becomes final. That point, however, clashes with limitations arising from the current pardon law and from the Criminal Code for certain offenses against international law.
This is precisely where the most contentious part of the initiative begins. The Specialist Chambers were established on the basis of constitutional amendments, a special law and Kosovo’s international commitments. For this reason, the vote in the Assembly does not in itself guarantee that the changes will pass without constitutional obstacles or without consequences for international obligations. The Specialist Chambers themselves have said they were not consulted on the initiative, while according to the government there are no legal obstacles to its processing.
The draft law is expected to be reviewed article by article in the responsible committee and then return to the Assembly for a second reading and final vote.
Beyond the broad political support in the first phase, the real test will be whether this initiative can withstand the constitution and the international architecture on which the Specialist Chambers themselves were built.
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