Previous international agreements make it impossible for Kosovo to stop Special Court

08/01/2018 19:22

The efforts to stop the Special Court of Kosovo seem in vain since it cannot be stopped simply by repealing the law.

There are three international acts that stand above the law: one direct agreement with the EU, and two other agreements with the Netherlands.

The law for the Specialize Chambers of the Special Court derives from these agreements that imposed the Constitutional amends when Kosovo was led by President Atifete Jahjaga.

Jahjaga had sent a letter to the then EU High Representatives, Catherine Ashton, expressing Kosovo’s readiness to establish the court chambers that would be established in a third country, based on an agreement with the respective state.

The necessary constitutional amends for creating the legal base for the Specialized Chambers and the Special Prosecutor’s Office were made in August 2015.

In February 2016, the Parliament of Kosovo ratified the international agreement with the Kingdom of Netherlands regarding the organization of the Kosovo Special Court established in the Netherlands.

They also signed a temporary agreement with the Kingdom of Netherlands, which is more similar to an international agreement. All these documents are above the laws of Kosovo, and this is defined in the Constitution as well.

The agreements are passed by two-thirds of Parliament votes, and the withdrawing procedure is similar. This is the main problem for the MPs who want to block the Special Court. They will not be able to secure 80 votes, and they will not have Netherlands’ consent to withdraw from the agreements signed years ago.

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