Siroka-Pulja Sends Specialist Chambers Law Back to Assembly

Justina Siroka-Pulja, president of the interim institutions in Pristina, has returned the Law on Amendments to the Law on the Specialist Chambers to the Kosovo Assembly for reconsideration. Deputies adopted it on October 6. She acted at the request of the parliamentary group of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), which proposed the amendments in the first place. According to reports published on October 23, the PDK formally submitted its request the same day, and the president received it during the day.

What does the PDK want, and why is the law going back to the Assembly?

The Presidency said the reconsideration should focus in particular on the provisions covering the jurisdiction and mandate of the Specialist Chambers, as well as on guaranteeing the constitutional rights of those being tried before the court in The Hague. In its request to the president, the PDK states:

“After extensive consultations, the PDK assesses that reconsideration would allow certain provisions to be supplemented and the law’s legal certainty to be strengthened, in the interest of the state and in order to fully guarantee the constitutional rights of our liberators who are being tried before the Specialist Chambers”

The party stresses that sending the law back does not mean starting the procedure from scratch, but a final expert review of the text. It also said it is not giving up on the law:

“The readiness to improve the law does not in any way mean giving it up. The PDK will under no circumstances give up on its entry into force”

The PDK has called on experts who expressed willingness to contribute, including the ombudsman, to submit concrete proposals. It expects the law to be adopted again within four weeks.

How did Siroka-Pulja explain her decision?

In her explanation, according to the Presidency’s statement, the president highlighted “the sacrifice, commitment and contribution of the Kosovo Liberation Army and its leaders in the struggle for Kosovo’s freedom and independence”. She recalled her support for the declaration the Assembly adopted on September 28, 2026, concerning the Specialist Chambers’ verdict against former KLA commanders Hashim Thaci, Kadri Veseli, Jakup Krasniqi and Rexhep Selimi. According to RTS, their combined sentence is 81 years in prison.

The Presidency’s statement also says:

“The president reiterated her position against any attempt to distort Kosovo’s historical truth, to call into question the liberating character of the war, or to equate a people that fought for freedom and survival with the regime that oppressed it”

The Presidency adds that Siroka-Pulja has held consultations with representatives of institutions and relevant state bodies and is continuing them. The aim is to coordinate inter-institutional and diplomatic activities to document, protect and affirm the historical truth about the war in Kosovo and the role of the KLA, and to protect as well as possible the rights and interests of the former KLA leaders on trial in The Hague.

Who reacted in the Assembly?

Ramush Haradinaj, a deputy and former leader of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo, criticized the decision. He said:

“Returning the Law on the Specialist Chambers to the Assembly is a great shame and a heavy blow for Kosovo. May they be ashamed forever, all those who have become part of this game”

Haradinaj had criticized the PDK’s request even before the president decided, saying that sending the law back is an insult and that he does not understand why the issue is being reopened after the effort and conflict that went into passing it.

Lumir Abdixhiku, leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), whose deputies did not vote for the law, responded on Facebook, addressing the PDK directly:

“You have returned the law. But where will you leave the mud you threw at the LDK?”

Abdixhiku claims the PDK accused him of being an opponent of the KLA during the debate on the law. In the same post he wrote: “This law had no legal effect and never will. The KLA’s war is sacred. It is defended with work and reason. Not like this”.

PDK deputy Përparim Gruda, who worked on the text of the law, sees no need for changes. He said the law contains no errors and that he would rather talk about its implementation than reopen the debate:

“I am proud of the work I did together with the team with which I drafted this law. Consultations on it were held with everyone with whom they had to be held. Today I stand behind every letter of this law, and it will remain so to the end”

Gruda added that if the Assembly does reconsider the law, the procedure should be carried out responsibly, with legal arguments and with the substance of the text preserved.

What happens before the new vote?

The amendments were adopted on October 6 as part of an agreement between the PDK and the Self-Determination Movement, which also covered the election of Justina Siroka-Pulja as president and so avoided new elections. The law thus came out of the same deal that put the president in office, and now she herself is sending it back to the deputies.

Under the procedure, the Assembly speaker forwards the law to the competent committee, which has four weeks to prepare a report for the plenary session. The bar for the vote itself is higher than for ordinary adoption: at least 61 votes are needed, a majority of all deputies rather than only of those present.

We wrote on October 21 about how Trendafilova defends the independence of the Specialist Chambers.