The Kosovo Judicial Council (KJC) has once again failed to elect a new chairperson due to a lack of quorum, reports Ekonomia Online.
Kosovo Judicial Council member Rrustem Thaqi, who is also one of the candidates for chairman, has raised concerns regarding the lack of a quorum.
"As you know, I am one of the candidates for the chairman of the KJC and for me it is not at all important whether I or someone else will be elected as the chairman of the KJC, but it is very important and extremely important that the chairman of the KJC is elected. If we look in retrospect at the way the KJC operates, it turns out that in this institution it has not been common for meetings to fail due to lack of a quorum. And I deeply believe that we, all members of the KJC, bear responsibility for the failure of the meetings and the entire process for appointing the chairman of the KJC. I believe that the election of the chairman should be a completely meritocratic aspect, because the KJC is a collegial body where the work and processes must be transparent, the voting must be free and democratic, while the elected must be legitimized by the majority of the members of the KJC, who according to their conviction and free and uninfluenced will vote for a candidate", he said Thaci.
According to him, synchronizing actions with political structures, interest groups and other persons precisely means the failure of the process of electing the chairman of the KJC.
“This means that the process of electing the chairman depends first and foremost on our vote, which must be regular, free and unconditional in the spirit of the process for advancing the judicial system and at the same time to address the important issues that are pending in this institution. Today I am not saying anything unknown if the election of the chairman is a process that is extremely interested in politics and certain interest groups. But this is not a surprise and this is not an obstacle. However, it is and will be completely unknown, unprecedented and unacceptable if we, the members of the KJC, synchronize actions with political structures or interest groups to influence not only the process of electing the chairman, but also in ensuring and promoting the independence of the KJC and the judiciary in general. To be even clearer, the synchronization of actions with political structures, with interest groups and other persons means precisely the failure of the process of electing the chairman of the KJC; any tendency to influence the current members of the KJC, "any tendency to favor certain members of the KJC and at the same time any tendency of pressure from within or outside the system on members of the KJC," he said.
Member Artan Abazi criticized the absence of judges at the meeting.
"Each member of the Judicial Council must be responsible, must know what duty he has received, must respect this duty, because if he does not respect it, it is understood what disregard for official duty means. And what makes me think so, as I am saying, is the fact that the e-mail for today's meeting was sent on April 8. That is, five days before the member, Judge Fahret Velija, was absent from today's meeting, on April 8, a request was made for this meeting to be held. The specific judge, Fahret Velija, waited five days to tell us 12 hours before the meeting that: 'I will not be able to participate because I have a health condition and I am abroad, in Albania'. We, I am mentioning it once again, wish him success, we are here to help him with his health condition, but the point is that we must be convinced by the facts. He had five days, if he had such a condition, to notify us in time, not 12 hours ago”, Abazi.
The Kosovo Judicial Council (KJC) announced on March 12 a vacancy for a new chairperson, which was open until March 26, 2026. The two judges running for the position of head of the Judicial Council are members of this institution. Thaqi is a judge at the Supreme Court, while Bislimaj is a judge at the Court of Appeals.
According to the Regulation on the Organization and Activities of the Kosovo Judicial Council, point 6 states that "The position of the chairperson and deputy chairperson must be filled within thirty (30) days from the day these positions become vacant."
t7 live
