THE JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS IN COMPENSATION CLAIMS ARISING FROM THE WIDESPREAD DESTRUCTION OF RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY IN THE AFTERMATH OF THE KOSOVO* CONFLICT

Abstract

In the aftermath of the conflict, wave of violence spread through Kosovo and led to the forced displacement of minority communities and to the large-scale destruction of their residential property. No mechanism that would enable compensation of the lost property was ever established. Throughout 2004 and 2005 the owners of the destroyed/damaged property approached the local courts seeking judicial protection of their property rights, which resulted in the submission of a massive number of compensation claims. The paper investigates what has happened with these compensation claims by looking into the group of cases assisted through a EU-funded legal aid project. The main objective of the research was to identify main trends in the way the first, second and third instance courts have dealt with the compensation cases. The results of the analysis show that the trials started in less than 1/3 of the analysed cases and that they were finalized in an even lower number of cases. So far only a small portion of the analysed proceedings has been completed by the final decision, all of which have been unfavourable for the plaintiff. The paper shows that the post-conflict property restitution has not yet taken place in post-1999 Kosovo despite the fact that it is a condition sine qua non for return of displaced population and as such derived from the provisions of the core international human rights instruments.