Human Rights Review Panel - 20th Session

Press Release
Number              02-2014
Date                   30.04.2014
Contact              John J. Ryan

The Human Rights Review Panel (the Panel) held its 20th session in Pristina from 7 to 9 April 2014. 

The Panel declared four cases inadmissible. In two of them it found that it had not been shown that EULEX was involved in any capacity in the matters complained about. The complaints therefore fell outside of the Panel’s competence. Two other cases concerned proceedings before Kosovo Property Agency Appeals Panel of the Supreme Court of Kosovo and before a Kosovo criminal court. As in many previous cases concerning similar complaints, the Panel found that it has no jurisdiction to review judicial proceedings before the Kosovo courts, even if EULEX judges sit on the bench.

In one case, the complainant asked for the re-examination of her complaint.  The Panel concluded that there were no grounds to re-examine this as the complainant failed to point at any new evidence.  

All decisions will be published on the Panel’s website upon translation into the Albanian and Serbian languages.

The next Panel session is scheduled to take place from 26 to 28 May 2014.

During the last four months, there has been a significant increase in the Panel’s case load. 29 new cases have been registered since the beginning of 2014. There are currently 48 cases pending before the Panel, fifteen of which have been communicated to the parties, one have been declared admissible. The remaining cases are under review.

Please see www.hrrp.eu for further information on the Panel and its case-law.

 Notes to the editor;
The Human Rights Review Panel (Panel) for EULEX Kosovo, as an independent accountability mechanism for alleged violations of human rights,  reviews complaints from any person claiming to be the victim of human rights violations by EULEX Kosovo in the conduct of its executive mandate. The Panel is not a judicial or disciplinary body. The mechanism will solely look into whether a violation of human rights occurred or not and formulate recommendations for remedial action. Such action does no include monetary compensation.  The Psnel is independent in the exercise of its functions which it performs with impartiality and integrity.