Clarification of the Ministry of Justice on the review process of the Criminal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code

The Ministry of Justice is in the process of reviewing the criminal legislation (Criminal Code and Criminal Procedure Code) with the aim of advancing the field of this legislation.

Through this process, above all, we aim to further advance the legislation in this field in general, focusing on revising the provisions that refer to strengthening the constitutional system of the Republic of Kosovo; to strengthen the fight against terrorism, corruption, and organized crime; to address the challenges and difficulties encountered by the criminal law enforcement agencies, and to address the findings from the European Commission’s country report.

Upon receiving the comments and proposals, and establishing the working group on this issue, the Ministry of Justice prepared the initial draft of the Draft Law on Amending and Supplementing the Criminal Code.

In preparing this draft, the Ministry of Justice took into account the proposals of the stakeholders involved in this process as well as the good practices of the European Union countries in general, and Germany in particular.

Some of the articles proposed for discussion by members of the working group regarding the strengthening of the constitutional system of the Republic of Kosovo, have been modeled on the German Criminal Code, which is in line with the European Convention on Human Rights and the practice of the European Court of Human Rights, and as such are subject for review by the working group and do not constitute proposals of any institution, therefore, the working group established on this issue will be competent to address and recommend how to proceed with this issue.

At present, the draft has been sent to the members of the working group, representatives of civil society, and our international partners.

The Ministry of Justice is currently in the stage of receiving additional comments and proposals from the members of the working group.

The Ministry of Justice is deeply committed for the review process of criminal justice to be comprehensive and transparent in order to further advance the current legislation, so that the law enforcement bodies be provided with adequate legal infrastructure and that their work be as effective as possible in preventing and combating negative phenomena.

The Ministry of Justice invites all parties and the media to refrain from prejudices and understand that the proposed issues are currently at the level of discussion and are just proposals to be decided by the working group.