Court hearings in Kosovo are not taking place due to an insufficient number of prosecutors. And these shortages are directly related to the lack of budget allocated to the Kosovo Prosecutorial Council.

These were the concerns raised at today's meeting of the Kosovo Prosecutorial Council.

Acting Chief State Prosecutor, Besim Kelmendi, said that in the absence of prosecutors, court hearings are not being held.

He requested that the KPK insist on the Government of Kosovo to allocate budgetary funds to fill the number of staff needed for the prosecutorial system, reports KosovaPress.

The Acting Chief State Prosecutor said that the Government of Kosovo has not allocated budget funds even for the positions that are foreseen by law.

He added that due to the lack of budget, staggering amounts are being paid for the rent of the buildings where the Kosovo Prosecutorial Council, as well as the Basic Prosecution Office of Mitrovica and Prizren, are located.

Regarding the annual report on the work of the KPC for 2024, the Director of the Secretariat, Sami Istrefi, stated that since the KPC's request for additional budget was not approved, this has caused difficulties in the work of the state prosecutor.

He announced that during 2024, the KPK has implemented 96.17% of the budget.

Lack of budget, attacks from other institutions against the KPK, and failure to appoint the chief state prosecutor were some of the challenges that the Kosovo prosecutorial system faced during 2024.

The Director of the Secretariat of the Kosovo Prosecutorial Council, Sami Istrefi, stated that during 2024, the State Prosecutor had over 150 thousand criminal reports at work, of which over 50 thousand were accepted at work during the previous year, while the rest was inherited over the years.

Also, during this KPC meeting, the work plan of the KPC Secretariat for 2024 was approved, while it was emphasized that no additional positions were approved with the budget law.

During the presentation of the work plan of the Kosovo Prosecutorial Council, the recruitment of 24 prosecutors was emphasized, while it was stated that there was no interest in the 4 positions reserved for the Serbian community.

Regarding the Strategic Plan and Action Plan of the Prosecutorial System for the years 2025-2027, which was on the agenda at today's meeting, due to several recommendations from international partners, specifically the European Union Office, this plan has been postponed.

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/Kosovapress/