OIK Report: PISG Committee Must Fulfill Promises of Employment

26/04/2006

Yesterday the Ombudsperson Institution in Kosovo (OIK) released a report on a senior civil servant who had been promised a new post but never received it.

Yesterday the Ombudsperson Institution in Kosovo (OIK) released a report on a senior civil servant who had been promised a new post but never received it.
In the report, the OIK finds that because the complainant’s legitimate expectation to receive a new position was not met, his right to property under the European Convention on Human Rights had been violated.
The civil servant, Mr. Ruzhdi Sefa, used to work for the Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning as Permanent Secretary.
In November 2003, following disagreements between Mr. Sefa and the Minister, the Senior Public Appointments Committee (SPAC) issued a decision to send him on paid leave.
In January 2004, the SPAC issued another decision in which it decided that Mr. Sefa should be appointed to another position of a similar level and salary within the Provisional Institutions of Self-government (PISG).
After this decision, the complainant stopped receiving his salary but despite repeated requests and reminders, he never received a new post.
In June 2004, Mr. Sefa filed a complaint with the Ombudsperson, who duly opened an investigation and found a violation of Article 1 of Protocol Number 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights. In his report, the Acting Ombudsperson recommends that Mr. Sefa be given a governmental post in accordance with the SPAC’s decision of January 2004, or that he be compesated if this is no longer possible.
The Acting Ombudsperson, Mr. Hilmi Jashari, formally submitted the report to the Assembly of Kosovo. Copies of the report were also sent to Special Representative of the Secretary General Mr. Søren Jessen-Petersen, UNMIK Standards Coordinator Mr. Brian Hopkinson, and Prime Minister and SPAC Chairman Mr. Agim Çeku.
For more information please contact:
Joshua Wright
International Media Advisor
Ombudsperson Institution in Kosovo
038/501-401
[email protected]