Kosovo Judicial Council to Weigh Serb Judges' Resignations
After a July 24 session collapsed for lack of quorum, the withdrawal of Serb judges' resignations is back on the agenda, ninth of 16 items, for Friday, August 7.
Kosovo’s Judicial Council has scheduled a session for Friday, August 7, with acting President Albulena Haxhiu’s request on the resignations of Serb judges and court staff from November 2022 among the items on the table. The matter is listed as the ninth item on an agenda that runs to 16 points in total.
The previous attempt never even got that far. The session held on July 24 could not be completed after several Council members walked out of the room in disagreement with chairman Rustem Thaçi over the agenda, leaving the requests to withdraw the resignations undiscussed.
Haxhiu has raised the matter with the Judicial Council repeatedly, both in writing and in person. In a letter sent to Thaçi on June 19, she argued that leaving the posts dormant for so long carries a measurable cost: “Keeping these positions in a status of dormancy for such a long period undermines legal certainty.”
What the Prosecutorial Council Already Decided
Kosovo’s Prosecutorial Council took a position two weeks ago that now hangs over Friday’s session. It rejected five requests from Serb prosecutors to withdraw their resignations, along with requests from 15 members of support staff, arguing that no legal basis for reinstatement exists. A day later, Haxhiu signed decrees dismissing seven Serb prosecutors.
The European Union reacted to those moves, saying they did not appear to comply with the law or the prescribed procedure, and called on the relevant institutions to refrain from steps that would hinder the reintegration of Serb judicial staff. Britain also voiced concern, recalling the 2015 Justice Agreement.
A Competition Announced Ahead of the Ruling on Judges
The day before the Judicial Council’s session, the Prosecutorial Council decided to open a competition on August 17 for 34 vacant prosecutorial posts. Ten are set aside for members of the Serb community, the remaining 24 for other candidates. The recommendation came from a Council commission.
Prosecutorial Council member Dardan Vuniqi explained the breakdown:
We are obligated to take measures to increase the representation of the Serb community in the system. The commission recommends ten positions for the Serb community, while the remaining 24 positions are intended for other candidates.
Prosecutorial Council chairman Arian Gashi called on Serbs to apply, linking the competition to obligations arising from the dialogue:
Community representation in the institutions is in Kosovo’s interest. It is also a legal obligation stemming from the dialogue with the neighboring state and the commitments made under the agreements reached. That is why I encourage members of the Serb community to apply. The process will be fair, independent and impartial.
The sequence of dates is what gives this decision its weight. The competition was announced barely two weeks after seven former Serb prosecutors were dismissed by decree, so the vacant posts are now heading toward being filled by new people rather than by the return of those who left them.
Why the Question Has Stayed Open for Nearly Four Years
Serb judges, prosecutors and administrative staff left Kosovo’s institutions in early November 2022, together with police officers and other employees, as part of the collective withdrawal of Serbs from the north. The trigger was the dispute over re-registering vehicles with Serbian license plates and the removal of Nenad Djuric, then head of the Regional Police Directorate for the North.
The integration of Serb judges and prosecutors was completed in 2017 under the Justice Agreement from the Brussels dialogue, and their departure from the institutions left it without its most important component. For nearly four years afterward, neither the Judicial nor the Prosecutorial Council reached a final decision on the status of the submitted resignations, and that very delay left room for the dispute over whether a legal basis for return exists.
In mid July, more than 20 members of the Serb community employed at the Basic Court and Basic Prosecution Office in North Mitrovica requested the withdrawal of their resignations. Friday is the date on which the Judicial Council can either answer differently than the Prosecutorial Council did on July 20, or repeat the same pattern.
