OVL-UÇK request on the Specialist Chambers law: an amendment barring the reopening of adjudicated cases

The Organisation of KLA War Veterans (OVL-UÇK) has asked the Speaker of the Assembly and the deputies to include, in the Draft Law on Supplementing and Amending the Law on the Specialist Chambers, an amendment barring the reopening of cases and procedures on the same essential facts and circumstances that were previously examined and finally adjudicated by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), UNMIK, EULEX or other competent courts.

In a letter addressed to the Assembly, OVL-UÇK argued that such a provision would serve as a guarantee for legal certainty and respect for the “ne bis in idem” principle, under which a person should not repeatedly face criminal proceedings for the same facts and circumstances for which a final decision by a competent judicial body already exists.

According to the organisation, a change in the legal qualification or the wording of an indictment should not make it possible for the same facts to be treated again, if they have already been examined and made the object of a final decision.

OVL-UÇK considers this issue particularly important in relation to the trial of the former KLA leaders at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers. In its letter, the organisation says the former KLA leaders were convicted at first instance for cases which, according to it, were previously dealt with in various domestic and international court proceedings.

“A change in the legal qualification or the formulation of an indictment cannot be used as a basis to recycle the same essential facts and circumstances that have already been examined and made the object of a final decision,” the OVL-UÇK request states.

The organisation called on deputies to address this issue through a separate provision within the legal amendments, asking that the proposal be treated with “the necessary seriousness and urgency”. According to it, this would help guarantee legal certainty, equality before the law and the right to a fair trial.

Meanwhile, on October 2 the Government of Kosovo announced that it had forwarded to the Assembly the Draft Law on Supplementing and Amending the Law on the Specialist Chambers. The draft law, which had been sent to the Government by the Democratic Party of Kosovo, envisages, among other things, limiting the mandate of the Specialist Chambers in dealing with alleged crimes in the Dick Marty report, as well as establishing international monitoring of their work.

The new proposal also envisages that the war crimes cases for which the four former KLA leaders were convicted at first instance be tried in Kosovo. The OVL-UÇK request for the inclusion of the amendment is expected to be examined within the parliamentary debate on amending the Specialist Chambers law. /Telegrafi/