OSCE Kosovo Mission urges greater adherence to right to liberty
PRISHTINE/PRISTINA, 1 December 2009 - Public prosecutors and judges should resort to detention on remand only when strictly necessary and in full conformity with the requirements of the law, says an OSCE Mission in Kosovo report on use of detention in criminal proceedings, presented today.
The report identifies occasional inadequate application of domestic legal framework which could lead to violation of defendants' right to liberty, delays in handing over police reports to prosecutors, and prosecutors often failing to sufficiently reason their requests for detention.
Additionally, the report notes that the courts frequently impose detention even when the facts supporting such decisions are arguable, defence counsellors in some cases failing to effectively challenge the need for detention on remand as well as the absence of detention hearings in some cases.
"All detentions encroach upon a fundamental human right, the right to liberty and security of person. Personal freedom is a condition that every person should enjoy and any limitation of liberty should be exceptional, objectively justified and as short as possible. Law enforcement bodies and the judiciary need to put additional efforts in ensuring this right," said Christopher Decker, Director of OSCE' Mission in Kosovo's Department of Human Rights and Communities.
The report also notes that the justice system in the Mitrovice/Mitrovica region functions with a limited capacity. Absence of a fully functioning judicial and prosecution system in the northern municipalities could lead to serious violations of the right to liberty, access to justice and the right to trial within a reasonable time.
The report is based on direct and focused monitoring of 125 cases involving detention on remand proceedings before local courts over a nine-month period. The recommendations mentioned in the report highlight the need for some improvement of the domestic legal framework as to exclude possible confusion, timely delivery of the police reports, need for a proper hearing before detention is imposed and sufficient reasons justifying detention orders.
"Compared with the findings of the last OSCE report on the application of detention in Kosovo issued in October 2004, judges and prosecutors have made progress in ensuring better compliance with the domestic legal framework. Nevertheless, considerable problems identified several years ago still persist. This is a matter of particular concern and this should be improved," Decker said.
Detention on remand has been a thematic focus for the OSCE's human rights monitoring activities both due to the paramount importance of a person's right to liberty and because various international monitoring bodies witness that violations of this fundamental right remain commonplace throughout the world.
The report is available on www.osce.org/kosovo/documents.html