The punitive policies of the judiciary in Kosovo for the acts of illegal weapon possession are mainly fines.
This was announced in the report “Penalties with Fines-“Permits” for Weapon Possession”, by the Kosovo Law Institute (IKD), which was published on Friday.
The author of this report, Zamira Krasniqi, said that from the analysis of 156 judgments of seven basic courts and 46 judgments of the Court of Appeals, it appears that in only one case has a prison sentence been imposed for illegal weapon possession.
According to Kosovo legislation, such cases are punishable by up to five years in prison.
According to her, the analysis over the last three years highlights that the amount of fines imposed is also low, despite the fact that according to the Criminal Code of Kosovo, the highest fine is foreseen to be 7,500 euros.
According to a survey conducted by the international organization Small Arms Survey in 2018, around 436,000 weapons are in the hands of civilians in Kosovo, of which around 392,794 are illegal. The survey shows that around 1,200 to 1,300 new weapons enter Kosovo every year.
