Publications

In the centre of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo mandate is the monitoring, promotion and protection of the human rights of diverse communities in Kosovo, of which language rights are an integral component. Equal use of official languages in Kosovo is a prerequisite for full and effective provision of services by the Kosovo Police to its own staff and to all individuals that interact with the KP. The OSCE Mission in Kosovo has continuously monitored and shared recommendations with the Kosovo Police on the use of the official languages in line with the legal framework in Kosovo and the relevant international human rights standards. The report, which analyses Kosovo Police language compliance in all eight police regions, acknowledges significant progress of the Kosovo Police achieved over the years and provides key conclusions and series of recommendations to the police, with the aim to ensure the protection of language rights for all communities. Available in English, Albanian and Serbian.

The Property Rights Monitor is a bi-annual publication of the observations of OSCE field monitoring Kosovo wide and aims to provide an overview of the situation in the field of property and housing rights of non-majority community members and displaced persons.

The Information Guide for Practitioners on Access to Property Rights in Kosovo is designed for practitioners working in the area of property rights, such as civil society organizations, notaries, cadastral offices and municipal bodies, where an interested party can direct their questions regarding property and inheritance rights. The Guide provides information on the main concepts related to property rights; it explains the process of property registration step by step, and offers an updated directory of main stakeholders that can facilitate exercising one’s property rights on the municipal level. The Guide emphasizes the equal rights of women and men to enjoy their property and inheritance rights and is accompanied by a Women's Access to Property and Inheritance Rights in Kosovo.

The OSCE Mission in Kosovo training on Mock Court Reporting for young and aspiring journalists and law students from all over Kosovo aims to provide them with first-hand experience in court reporting. They will be instructed on best practices for gathering information and communicating with justice officials and vice versa. The training will be followed by a concluding workshop, as a platform to discuss lessons learned and derive conclusions and recommendations.

This report provides an analysis of data from cases of illegal possession of weapons collected by the OSCE Mission in Kosovo trial monitoring programme from December 2020 to August 2023 and assesses court sentencing practices for compliance with fair trial and international human rights standards, with a particular focus on fair and consistent sentencing.

The Guide for Municipal Officials on Personal Data Protection and Access to Public Documents is intended for municipal officials who manage access to public documents and the protection and processing of personal data. In 2024, the OSCE and the Information and Privacy Agency in Kosovo launched an initiative to enhance the capacities of these officials through a series of regional workshops. These efforts culminated in the creation of this publication.

The Property Rights Monitor is a bi-annual publication of the observations of OSCE field monitoring Kosovo wide and aims to provide an overview of the situation in the field of property and housing rights of non-majority community members and displaced persons.

Newsletter by the OSCE Mission in Kosovo

The OSCE Mission in Kosovo continually supports young lawyers with specialized knowledge in property rights issues, including international standards on the protection of human rights with a focus on vulnerable communities’ property rights. To further the knowledge and practical skills of young lawyers, the OSCE calls for five master- level law students, including from non-majority communities and three civil law professors to apply for a three-day visit to European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in Strasbourg. Deadline for submissions, 22 August 2024, CoB.

The OSCE Mission in Kosovo provides capacity-building for the Kosovo police and community safety forums, along with monitoring and advocacy for the implementation of the Community Safety Strategy and the 2011-2016 Action Plan. With an objective to instill local co-operation and enhancement of public trust in the Kosovo police, an information booklet on community policing in northern Kosovo is launched in December 2014. The brochure explains a community policing philosophy with applied methods in practice highlighting illustrious examples of partnerships and collaboration between the police and the residents throughout Kosovo.