Riinvest Institute 2014

ARTICLE IV 

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15
ples of professional conduct and ethics. In addition, 
they neither serve the common good nor do they pro-
vide better information to the public, thus affecting 
negatively the justice system in the country.
19
The forth problem deals with access to records. It is 
generally very difficult for citizens in Kosovo to ob-
tain justice system records. In 2013, Justice and the 
People Campaign noticed that EULEX and the State 
Prosecutor do not provide access to indictments in 
criminal cases in a timely manner. Access to indict-
ments serves transparency since the indictment is an 
official act of the State Prosecutor and courts, and it 
presents charges being made against plaintiffs in the 
name of the people of Kosovo.
20
In addition, numer-
ous judges do not allow filming of court hearings, ex-
cluding, in this way, citizens from judicial proceedings 
to which they are entitled to and violating the Kosovo 
Criminal Procedure Code.
21
Lack of indictments leads 
to ambiguity since the press does not have all the in-
formation needed to provide the citizens with so that 
they can evaluate the way the state is carrying out its 
responsibilities and how it is exercising its power. 
The fifth problem that judiciary in Kosovo faces is the 
nontransparent way of allocating cases among judg-
es and prosecutors.22 The allocation of cases is not 
actually done based on a well explained procedure or 
objective criteria. As a result, opportunities are creat-
ed for political interference in the selection of judges 
and prosecutors.
23
This has led to many cases where 
judges were actually ruling the cases of family mem-
bers or acquaintances. 
The sixth problem derives from the fact that Kosovo