Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice, Prof. Dr. Hajredin Kuçi, today presented to the Committee of European Integration of the Kosovo Assembly, the fulfillment of short-term criteria derived from the Feasibility Study Report and the Structured Dialogue Meeting held in Prishtina on 12 February 2013.

Minister Kuçi informed the participants of the actions taken which have contributed to the fulfillment of the short-term criteria.

Initially, Minister Kuçi said that the new Criminal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code have significantly toughened the fight against corruption and organized crime. He added that the Anti-Corruption Strategy, the Law on Confiscation of Property and the Law on Money Laundering have been approved, which according to the Minister will contribute in the fulfillment of the short-term criteria in the context of the visa liberalization process as well as in meeting the short-time criteria identified in the Feasibility Study.

Regarding the fight against organized crime and corruption, Minister Kuçi cited the amendment of the Law on Prevention of terrorism financing and Money Laundering, as well as the National Strategy and the Action Plan against Economic Crime. Meanwhile, on the international level in the framework of the fight against organized crime, Kuçi highlighted that the Ministry of Justice has done much in order to increase the cooperation with various countries. "More than 20 extraditions have been made only during the recent periods, over 100 requests for mutual legal assistance, out of which 80% have been cases of organized crime," said Minister Kuçi and added that Kosovo has expressed its willingness for an unconditional cooperation even with the countries that have not recognized Kosovo yet.
Minister Kuçi emphasized the cooperation with EULEX, as one of the short-term criteria derived from the Feasibility Study, citing the signing of the Cooperation Agreement which provided all the areas and forms of cooperation between the Ministry of Justice and EULEX.

Minister Kuçi added that a series of laws are being amended in order to harmonize them even more with the EU legislation, including the Law on International Legal Cooperation, the Law on Declaration, Origin and Control of Property of Senior Public Officials, the Law on Prevention of Conflict of Interest in Exercise Public Functions, etc.

Speaking of the Law on Amnesty, Minister Kuçi said that work is being done on the draft law of Amnesty, and added that the possibility of abuse with this law is nonexistent. According to him, the proposed Constitutional amendment requires the adoption of the Law on Amnesty only by a 2/3 votes of all the Assembly members and the need of a general social consensus to amnesty any category of criminal offenders. 

The Minister said that the proposed law excludes from the amnesty many categories of crimes, including crimes against international law, war crimes, corruption, organized crime and crimes against sexual integrity.