High temperatures in courtrooms are making it difficult to hold hearings at the Justice Palace in Pristina, while in some cases they are also leading to the postponement of court sessions.

During this period, the Justice Palace has been continuously facing high temperatures due to the improper functioning of its air conditioning system. According to the Kosovo Judicial Council (KJC), the issue requires substantial funding for a complete repair, KosovaPress reports.

The head of the Trade Union of Employees at the Basic Court in Pristina, Besim Spahiu, told KosovaPress that he has discussed the issue with the court's management, the secretariat and the Kosovo Judicial Council.

However, following his request, only minor repairs have been carried out on the air conditioning system.

“On June 10, I submitted a written request to the court management, the secretariat and the Kosovo Judicial Council regarding the lack of air conditioning, but I did not receive any response. On June 17, I went to the Kosovo Judicial Council to seek clarification about the issue, where I met with the chair of the Council. They informed me that they had engaged a team to repair the air conditioning problem and promised that within 20 days the air conditioning would be restored to a considerable extent, since a complete repair requires time and budgetary resources, which they currently do not have at their disposal. On June 25, we carried out minor repairs to the air conditioning. As the head of the trade union, on July 1 I submitted an official request to the court management and the KJC asking for a temporary reduction in working hours. I welcome the KJC’s decision, and we expect these measures to be implemented as soon as possible. So far, I have not received any official notification regarding this decision,” Spahiu said.

Attorney Arbër Jashari also spoke about the difficulties caused by the high temperatures in courtrooms.

He said that this week, a hearing scheduled to last the entire day in the Juvenile Department became impossible to continue due to the conditions in the courtroom, with one of the parties even fainting. The hearing was postponed to another day.

Jashari said that the Special Department of the Basic Court in Pristina has postponed all hearings considered non-urgent.

According to Jashari, the postponement of court hearings directly affects the rights of parties in criminal proceedings, resulting in violations of their rights.

Meanwhile, the spokesperson for the Basic Court in Pristina, Mirlinda Gashi, said in a written response that there has been an improvement regarding temperatures in the courtrooms, and that the Court currently does not consider it justified to introduce measures to reduce or suspend its work.

“The Basic Court in Pristina is aware of the decision of the Kosovo Judicial Council authorizing the presidents of the courts to undertake measures to reduce or suspend work if necessary as a result of the high temperatures. However, during the past two days at the Justice Palace, an improvement has been observed regarding temperatures in the working premises, as the air conditioning system has started functioning. Under these circumstances, the Court currently does not consider it justified to undertake measures to reduce or suspend its work. Nevertheless, the Court will continue to monitor the situation and, should the need arise, will implement the measures set out in the decision of the Kosovo Judicial Council, with the aim of protecting the health and safety of judges, administrative staff and the parties,” the response states.

On Monday, the Kosovo Judicial Council authorized the presidents of the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals, the Administrative Court, the Commercial Court and the Basic Court in Pristina to undertake measures due to the high temperatures prevailing at the Justice Palace.

It is now up to the presidents of the courts located at the Justice Palace to assess the situation and, if necessary, reduce or suspend work.