Structure and Organisation

At the outset, the Programme of International Judges and Prosecutors had only one judge and one single prosecutor. However, this programme gradually advanced from its creation in 2000, to the point that, in December 2007, it included 13 international judges and 8 international prosecutors.

By Resolution 1244 of June 10, 1999, the Security Council established an international presence in Kosovo, UNMIK. UNMIK was given the task to administer both the territory and the population of Kosovo: All legislative and executive powers were devolved to it as well as judicial power in order that Kosovo, devastated by war, could be reconstructed and eventually acquire its autonomy.

Whereas the Resolution approved the establishment of an international police force in Kosovo, there was not, at that time, an international consensus on allowing international judges and prosecutors to preside over hearings in local Kosovar jurisdictions. It is for this reason that UNMIK decided to have only national judges and prosecutors to assume judiciary power. However, it became apparent that the majority of the jurists appointed had no experience in the judicial system, and that those who had, had not worked as judges or prosecutors since 1989, at which time the judicial system could not really be considered as impartial.

On 15 February 2000, a new Regulation was promulgated (Regulation 2000/34) which made way for the nomination of both an international judge and prosecutor to each trial chamber in the five regions of Kosovo, as well as for an international judge to the Kosovo Supreme Court.

On 15 December 2000, at a time when it had become apparent that the presence of only one international judge on the Supreme Court was insufficient, -with the Kosovar judges continuing to have the majority vote due to their numerical superiority-, Regulation 2000/64 was adopted. This gave a mandate to the Special Representative of the Secretary General to approve what became known as a “64 Request” for particular cases. This meant in effect, that a case could then be able to be heard by a group of three professional judges, which included a minimum of two international judges. This gave the assurance of a majority vote by the international magistrates, thus making the decisions handed down less “partial”.

In 2006, in order to make more efficient use of the competencies of the international judges and prosecutors, due to their limited number, they were brought together under the one jurisdiction of Pristina. This had some negative repercussions in that access to international judges and prosecutors became more difficult since they were no longer to be found in each region. At the same time, with the international magistrates being absent, control over the national judges was therefore reduced, leading to the impartiality of their decisions being questioned.

International judges and prosecutors can be chosen via a UN recruitment process or via recommendation made by States or International Organisations such as the Council of Europe. They are appointed by the Special Representative of the Secretary General for a six month which is renewable.