References: Yes, citizens can sue the government after they complain in to an ombudsperson.

The Ombudsperson Institution in Kosovo (OIK) is an independent organiaation, which has a mandate to address alleged human rights violations or abuses of authority by public institutions in Kosovo. We conduct investigations, issue reports and provide legal services and public advocacy. The institution is mandated to monitor the policies and laws adopted by local authorities to ensure that they respect human rights standards and the requirements of good governance. If we find that a general practice or situation affecting the public as a whole, not only one person or group of persons, has violated international human rights standards, we may issue a special report with recommendations to the Provisional Institutions of Self-Government (PISG). We are also competent to act independently on information we have received and to open ex-officio investigations in the absence of a formally-filed complaint (see our ex-officio reports).

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References: Behlul Zeka, Legal Officer, The EU Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX), September 25, 2009, Prishtina, Kosovo

To some extent it does, though not to a desired extent. There is space for improvement. A system of accountability should be introduced in which the certain chief executive will be informed of his/her competencies and also be careful when taking or not taking a decision of the consequences that he/she may face. This would help very much in good governance and also allow for greater accountability before his/her superiors and especially before the public. Related to this, of utmost importance, are media and especially investigative journalists who can and have revealed numerous cases of lack of accountability in public service.

Ardian Kryeziu, Civil Society Activist, Legal Expert, September 2009, Prishtina, Kosovo

"There are some positive cases that senior staff started feeling accountable toward their actions, this is a very good step and they started thinking that they really should give explanation for their actions and policies. People started thinking differently, asking more questions and not blindly believing them. Sometimes they feel that the only institution that they need to be accountable is their political party because that's how they got that job."

References: This is not foreseen by law

References: Behlul Zeka, Legal Officer, The EU Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX), September 25, 2009, Prishtina, Kosovo

Not many cases in practice have happened in the past and also not now in the present. Justification for the past is international administration of UNMIK, which despite of the ombudsperson's reports presenting incorrect actions, they have not undergone any judicial review because UNMIK was not at all accountable to Kosovo citizens. When it comes to Republic of Kosovo institutions I hope that we will have more cases of judicial review, especially now that we have established our Constitutional Court.

Ardian Kryeziu, Civil Society Activist, Legal Expert, September 2009, Prishtina, Kosovo "There are some decisions of Supreme Court of Kosovo that has the power to act on second level in administrative cases to annul decisions taken by institutions and take them back. It is very difficult to follow the procedures and the entire process because sometimes the case is settled and parties stop following the case."

References: Behlul Zeka, Legal Officer, The EU Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX), September 25, 2009, Prishtina, Kosovo

As far as I am informed, there were limits.

Krenare Sogojeva, Civil Society activits, Legal Adviser, September 2009, Prishtina, Kosovo

"I think that there are some limits, but even for me it is not so clear why and when they decide to not make a regulation or not make it. I have a feeling that it is something that makes them act like that."

References: Not regulated

References: Not strictly regulated for this level

References: Law No.2004/34 SUPPRESSION OF CORRUPTION LAW

SUPERVISION OF ASSETS

Article 39 The Agency shall supervise the senior official person's assets on the basis of information submitted by the senior official person on a special form, which shall be determined by the Agency.

Article 41 41.1. Information regarding the status of the assets of the senior official person or the person living with the senior official person in his/her domestic relationship shall comprise information about all their assets and income, as follows: a. real estate, b. movable property of greater value, c. their holding of shares in commercial companies, d. securities, e. cash held in banks, savings banks and other savings and loans institutions, f. debts, undertaken sureties and other obligations, and g. annual income (serving as a tax base).

41.2. Movable property of greater value as referred to point (b) of the preceding paragraph shall be considered to be movable property whose value exceeds 5,000 Euros (US$7,421) 41.3. The Agency may demand appropriate proof from the senior official person for the information referred to in paragraph one of this article.

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References: Law No.2004/34 SUPPRESSION OF CORRUPTION LAW

SUPERVISION OF ASSETS

Article 39 The Agency shall supervise the senior official person's assets on the basis of information submitted by the senior official person on a special form, which shall be determined by the Agency.

Article 41 41.1. Information regarding the status of the assets of the senior official person or the person living with the senior official person in his/her domestic relationship shall comprise information about all their assets and income, as follows: a. real estate, b. movable property of greater value, c. their holding of shares in commercial companies, d. securities, e. cash held in banks, savings banks and other savings and loans institutions, f. debts, undertaken sureties and other obligations, and g. annual income (serving as a tax base).

41.2. Movable property of greater value as referred to point (b) of the preceding paragraph shall be considered to be movable property whose value exceeds 5,000 Euros (US$7,421). 41.3. The Agency may demand appropriate proof from the senior official person for the information referred to in paragraph one of this article.

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References: Law No.2004/34 SUPPRESSION OF CORRUPTION LAW

CHAPTER 4 ACCEPTANCE OF GIFTS Article 33 33.1. An official person shall not accept gifts or other benefits (hereafter "gifts") in connection with their execution of office, except for formal gifts and occasional gifts of small value.

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References: Law No. 02/L-74 ON INTERNAL AUDIT

CHAPTER I I. GENERAL PROVISIONS Article 1 Purpose 1.1. This purpose of the present law is to ensure greater operational efficiency, budgetary and financial discipline and legal and regulatory compliance by public sector entities by requiring each such public sector entity to subject its operations, records and management and control systems to regular, systematic and comprehensive internal audits. 1.2. It is also the purpose of the present law to ensure that such internal audits are conducted for the purpose of adding value to public sector entities in a manner that enhances the benefits provided by public sector entities to their users and beneficiaries and the people of Kosovo.

1.3. Consistent with such purposes, the present law also establishes an institutional system to ensure the proper conduct of such internal audits.

www.kuvendikosoves.org

References: No, the law does not tell anything after the officials leave their work, it only regulates this are during the time they serve in government.

Law No.2004/34 SUPPRESSION OF CORRUPTION LAW

Article 26 26.1. A professional official person shall not perform administrative, supervisory or representative functions in commercial companies, firms, institution, cooperatives, funds or agencies. 26.2. By way of derogation from the previous paragraph, a professional official person may, as a representative of their body, be a board member of a public institution or public agency, or a supervisory board member of a public company, public fund or commercial company in which the central or a local authority is a holder of shares or other rights on the basis of which it participated in the management or capital.

www.kuvendikosoves.org

References: Behlul Zeka, Legal Officer, The EU Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX), September 25, 2009, Prishtina, Kosovo

They are effective but it remains to be seen how much will they be implemented.

Ardian Kryeziu, Civil Society Activist, Legal Expert, September 2009, Prishtina, Kosovo

"I think that it is not regulated even when they are in government position so it would be very difficult for implementing the law itself, a lot of ministers and vice-ministers have or are part of private sector companies that even take tenders and bid with them."

References: Behlul Zeka, Legal Officer, The EU Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX), September 25, 2009, Prishtina, Kosovo

This appeared also in this new draft for supplementation and amendments to the existing Law on Anti-Corruption, though I am not very much sure if they will remain in the text of the draft after the second reading in the Assembly and its adoption of this is because of the proposals to remove the part about gifts and have it regulated in some other law, perhaps a special one governing gifts and hospitality. So these regulations are not effective yet.

Ardian Kryeziu, Civil Society Activist, Legal Expert, September 2009, Prishtina, Kosovo " No. I think that it is not effective at all, they do not respect the list of gifts and they do not make them public. Sometimes they receive gifts from different channels and they do not tell them, but when it comes to the news they say, 'Yeah here it is and so on'."

References: Behlul Zeka, Legal Officer, The EU Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX), September 25, 2009, Prishtina, Kosovo

They are audited. Though I am not aware of any penalization even after the report of the Auditor-General has been published and has proven misuse of funds.

Ardian Kryeziu, Civil Society Activist, Legal Expert, September 2009, Prishtina, Kosovo "Yeah, they are audited and everything goes according to procedures but in the end, the recommendation given by the General Audit is not followed by the ministries."

References: Law No. 2004/34 SUPPRESSION OF CORRUPTION LAW and Law No.2004/34 SUPPRESSION OF CORRUPTION LAW does not foresee if a citizen can have access or not in asset disclosure records.

www.kuvendikosoves.org

References: Behlul Zeka, Legal Officer, The EU Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX), September 25, 2009, Prishtina, Kosovo

This is still not possible. I hope it will one day be through adoption and implementation of the respective laws that regulate this matter.

Ardian Kryeziu, Civil Society Activist, Legal Expert, September 2009, Prishtina, Kosovo "I am not sure. I have never tried to but I read in newspapers about the declarations of their asset records. It seems that journalists have access if they make a regular request to the Anti-Corruption Agency of Kosovo."

References: Behlul Zeka, Legal Officer, The EU Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX), September 25, 2009, Prishtina, Kosovo

This is still not possible. I hope it will one day be through adoption and implementation of the respective laws that regulate this matter.

Ardian Kryeziu, Civil Society Activist, Legal Expert, September 2009, Prishtina, Kosovo "You do not need to pay for that, but still there are some bylaws and administrative decisions that need to be drafted in order to have access to all this data."

References: Behlul Zeka, Legal Officer, The EU Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX), September 25, 2009, Prishtina, Kosovo

Not yet of high quality. This only happens before the general elections are held and there are discrepancies because often times what was disclosed could not have been examined well enough.

Ardian Kryeziu, Civil Society Activist, Legal Expert, September 2009, Prishtina, Kosovo "I do not know what kind of quality you consider high, but for me they are all just 50 percent of what they have. When they run for elections they want to look poor, and then people will think that they are similar with them and vote for them. All these records are almost the same every election so they do not earn or lose anything within four years. So strange."

References: Behlul Zeka, Legal Officer, The EU Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX), September 25, 2009, Prishtina, Kosovo

In general, there is a practice of separation and distinction. But if we are to consider also the President as government, giving the government a wider interpretation. Then the actual situation is not promising because we have the head of state, who at the same time is president of the second biggest party in Kosovo. At the same time it is also a violation of the Constitution of Kosovo, which does not allow such a thing , and which is in contradiction to the very position he or she holds. That is a unifying position for the Kosovo people.

Ardian Kryeziu, Civil Society Activist, Legal Expert, September 2009, Prishtina, Kosovo

"No there is no distinction at all. The Prime Minister and the Vice Prime Minsiter are also President and Vice President of the ruling party. The President of the Assembly is also Secretary General of the ruling party. They have the feeling that they need to be there, too, because they were voted in by the people."