The Ombudsperson published the Report with Recommendations concerning Revocation of certain competencies of Kosovo Property Comparison and Verification Agency, according to the Law no. 05/L-010 on Kosovo Property Comparison and Verification Agency and addressed the Prime Minister with a request for suspension of the decision No.06/149, of 17 July 2017

Ombudsperson’s Ex officio Report with Recommendations No. 551/2017 today was delivered to the responsible authorities as well as was published, related to revocation of certain competencies of Kosovo Property Comparison and Verification Agency, according to the Law no. 05/L-010 on Kosovo Property Comparison and Verification Agency.

At the same time the Ombudsperson requested from the Government of Kosovo suspension of enforcement of the Decision No. 06/149, of 17 July 2017, issued by the Government of Republic of Kosovo, through which Administrative Instruction no. 07/2017 on the Procedures, Conditions and Criteria for the Completion of the Administration of Property under Administration and those Involved in the Rental Scheme of the Kosovo Property Comparison and Verification Agency, was approved.

The Report is based on analyses of the provisions of the Law no. 05/L-010 on Kosovo Property Comparison and Verification Agency (KPCVA) which foresee
revoking of two important competencies of this Agency, firstly, that 18 months from entry into force of the Law, the Agency will no longer continue to administer the properties under its competency, and secondly, in any case where KPCVA carries out two evictions of occupants of the same property, the Law on KPCVA stipulates that the responsibility for any other eviction related to that property will be transferred to the owner himself/herself, within the regular private enforcement system.

The purpose of the Report is to assess whether the revocation of such two KPCVA competencies constitutes violation of owners’ rights according to the Constitution and European and international human rights standards and provision of concrete and specific recommendations to competent authorities on steps to be taken to fully respect the human rights.

The Ombudsperson considers that revoking of the competence to administer property, including rental scheme, as well as the competency to conduct evictions after two occupations of the same property from the scope of KPCVA, constitutes a violation of property rights, along with the Constitution of Republic of Kosovo and the international and European human rights instruments.

The Ombudsperson, referring to European Court of Human Rights practice, which, related to the principle of enforcement of property law in the context of property restitution, tends to give each country wide discretion to set own criteria and conditions for gaining the right to return, draws attention to the practice of this court which supports with the same rigidity another principle, according to which: “each state, after establishing the legal criteria for obtaining the right to restitution of property, is obliged to apply these criteria until the end “.

The Report unveils Article 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights which obliges states to “secure to everyone within their jurisdiction the rights
and freedoms defined”, underlines ECtHR practice, according to which “ the fulfillment of this general task may involve positive obligations as a part of ensuring efficient exercise of the rights guaranteed by the Constitution”, while in the context of the property right specifically, “ these positive obligations may require that the State undertake necessary measures to protect the property right. ”

After analyses of the legal base, of the Constitution of Republic of Kosovo as well as International Instruments, the Ombudsperson ascertains that:

1. Law N0. 05/L-010 on Kosovo Property Comparison and Verification Agency, Article 21, par. 7 (“The Agency shall administer the properties and implement the rental scheme in accordance with this Article, at latest eighteen months (18) from the entry into force of the present Law.”) poses violation of the property right and is in contradiction with the Constitution of Republic of Kosovo as well as European and international human rights instruments; and

2. Law No. 05/L-010 on Kosovo Property Comparison and Verification Agency, Article 19, par. 7 (“For any subsequent re-occupation of the same property, the rules of the general enforcement procedure shall be applicable based on the same decision/judgment and eviction order as an enforcement document.”) poses violation of the property right and is in contradiction with the Constitution of Republic of Kosovo as well as European and international human rights instruments.

Through this Report the Ombudsperson recommends that:

1. Article 21, par. 7, of the Law No. 05/L-010 on Kosovo Property Comparison and Verification Agency, (“The Agency shall administer the properties and implement the rental scheme in accordance with this article, at latest eighteen months (18) from the entry into force of the present Law.”), to be entirely removed;

2.Article 19, par. 7 of the Law No. 05/L-010 on Kosovo Property Comparison and Verification Agency, (“For any subsequent re-occupation [ after two evictions] of the same property, the rules of the general enforcement procedure shall be applicable based on the same decision/judgment and eviction order as an enforcement document”), to be completely removed; and

3. Article 19, par. 6, Law No. 05/L-010 on Kosovo Property Comparison and Verification Agency, to be amended as follows: “For any reoccupation following the execution date of an eviction order, after notification by the claimant for illegal re-occupation of the property, the Agency shall re-execute it once more by re-evicting occupants from the property based on a newly issued warrant, following the procedure in paragraph 3-5 of this Article. With regard re-eviction the Agency shall inform the applicant of the day of re-eviction and invite him/her to be present. In case the claimant or his/her representative fails to participate in re-eviction, the Agency shall enforce eviction and issue repossession acknowledgment”.

Report with Recommendations, in its full form, has been delivered to the responsible authorities as well as has been disseminated to media and is published on OI official web-page and can be found here: http://www.ombudspersonkosovo.org/repository/docs/ANG–_17-10-2017_Raporti_per_______AKKVP(1)-1_922339.pdf