UNMIK/PR/1701
PRISTINA – The Legal Aid Commission of Kosovo was officially inaugurated today at a public ceremony, following the approval of nominations for the Legal Aid Commissioner and eight Deputy Legal Aid Commissioners by the Prime Minister.
Established pursuant to UNMIK Regulation 2006/36 on legal aid, the Legal Aid Commission of Kosovo is the first publicly-funded agency of its kind in the region and will be responsible for the provision of free legal assistance to financially disadvantaged persons in the areas of criminal, civil and administrative law.
The Legal Aid Commission is an independent government agency. In addition to the Commission, which meets on a monthly basis, the agency consists of a Legal Aid Coordination Office, based in Pristina, and five District Legal Aid Bureaus, based in Gjilan/Gnjilane, Mitrovica, Pejë/Peć, Pristina and Prizren. Legal aid will be provided by legal officers employed in the District Legal Aid Bureaus and by advocates and NGOs contracted by the Legal Aid Commission. Legal aid in civil and administrative law matters will be available to eligible persons for matters including property issues, family law issues, wrongful dismissal from employment or loss of pension and social assistance cases. It is anticipated that the District Legal Aid Bureaus will open in the near future.
The establishment of the Legal Aid Commission is an important milestone on the path to full access to justice for members of all Kosovo communities and will bring Kosovo closer to full realization of international access to justice standards, as enshrined in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights.
In addition to overseeing the provision of legal aid in Kosovo, the Legal Aid Commission is entrusted with responsibility for ensuring that legal aid is accessible to all vulnerable groups, including ethnic minorities, providing public legal education, advising government on ways to simplify legal procedures and producing statistics on access to justice needs in Kosovo.
The Commission is a multi-ethnic body comprising representatives of government ministries, the Kosovo Supreme Court, the Kosovo Chamber of Advocates and the NGO sector. The Legal Aid Commissioner is appointed for a term of four years, while Deputy Commissioners are appointed for terms of either three or five years.
