On 7 September 2017, Group for Legal and Political Studies – in joint cooperation with Kosovar Institute for Policy Research and Development and Artpolis – have organized a Roundtable Discussion to present a Policy Analysis entitled: “An underutilized system: State of play of the Human Rights framework in Kosovo”, held in Prishtina.  The report provides a legal analysis of the current state of play pertaining to Human Rights, starting with systemic deficiencies and continuing with the relevant applicable laws and institutions directly engaged in Human Rights protection, including that on Access to Public Documents, a question which is often ignored. All the while, it focuses on necessary actions on how to increase its effective implementation. It ends with a number of policy recommendations for improving the current delivery of Human Rights in Kosovo. The majority of the EU equality and Human Rights principles have been directly transposed in Kosovo’s legislation. Kosovo has constitutionalized the Human Rights conventions, placing them above the internal legislation and making them directly applicable by the Courts and Public Administrations. Additionally, a set of laws and by-laws have been drafted and adopted to protect and promote Human Rights standards, covering discrimination cases and gender equality, as well as strengthening the Human Rights bodies and the mandate of the Kosovo Ombudsperson Institution. In addition, the panelists had the chance to discuss the legal and institutional challenges in protecting and promoting Human Rights in Kosovo, including the legal uncertainty, the overlapping of laws, the existence of numerous laws that remain unregulated under specific areas, as well as the low clearance rate of cases even with an existing court order, among others.  The report is part of series of publications foreseen under the project “Protecting and Promoting Human Rights in Kosovo through active civil society” under the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights, implemented by Kosovar Institute for Policy Research and Development (KIPRED), Group for Legal and Political Studies (GLPS) and Artpolis.

Panelists:

Mr. Hilmi Jashari – Kosovo Ombudsperson;

Mr. Visar Bivolaku – Political Officer, EU Office in Kosovo/EUSR;

Ms. Ariana Qosaj Mustafa – Program Director and Senior Research Fellow, KIPRED;

Mr. Francisco Jose Garcia Martinez – Author of the report, GLPS;

Mr. Umberto Cucchi – Co-author of the Report, GLPS.

Venue: Orion Conference Centre, Prishtina.