Prishtinë, 11 August 2020 – Ombudsperson, within the scope of exercising his powers and legal responsibilities, in the capacity of a friend of the court (Amicus Curiae), today has published the Legal Opinion Ex-Officio no.148 / 2020 with regard to the legal identity of unregistered persons.

This Legal Opinion in the capacity of Friend of the Court (Amicus Curiae) in the court proceedings concerning human rights, equality issues and protection against discrimination aims to draw attention of Courts in handing and undertaking measures within the powers and legal responsibilities with regard to acceleration of proceeding the lawsuits with respect to accomplishment of the basic human right such as legal identity for unregistered persons. Therefore, for this purpose, the Ombudsperson presents this legal opinion in the capacity of a Friend of the Court (Amicus Curiae) to .the Court of Appeals, the Basic Court in Prishtina, the Basic Court in Peja and the Basic Court in Mitrovica.

The Ombudsperson, upon review of relevant legislation, international instruments, documents of the case, information and data in his possession, considers that in given case, the failure to provide legal identity to persons in question constitutes violation of fundamental human rights and freedoms, namely the rights of children.

The Ombudsperson, in accordance with Law no. 05 / L-019 on Ombudsperson and the relevant legislation in effect has no powers over the decisions of the competent courts which are related to the cases in question. As per this issue, in the spirit of the best interests of children and other adults in the matter, the Ombudsperson Institution recalls that the principle of the rule of law obliges public authorities, including the courts, to pay special attention and care to practical applicability of international instruments and domestic acts of this field.

Ombudsperson, based on the legal analysis and findings disclosed in the Legal Opinion in the capacity of Friend of the Court (Amicus Curiae), encourages Courts in treating such cases with priority, in a reasonable time and in a unique way throughout the territory of the Republic of Kosovo, among others, in accordance with international standards and practices.

This Legal Opinion in the capacity of Friend of the Court (Amicus Curiae) has been delivered to responsible authorities. The same has been disseminated to media and published on Ombudsperson Institution’s official website.

Read the report here https://bit.ly/2DZEsl4