XV Edition GIZ Law Journal

KOSOVO

KOSOVO

New Approaches for Rule of Law Projects in Development Cooperation Strengthening the Implementationof Environmental Law inKosovo

By: Henrike Boll

Traditionally, rule of law projects in the development cooperation are concerned with the establishment and strengthening of the judiciary, especially of its independence, and access to justice for the population. As the name suggests, the overarching goal is to strengthen the rule of law in the respective partner countries. However, the rule of law is a very comprehensive principle, and projects in this area are not limited to the above-mentioned aims. Especially in countries where basic structures already exist, it seems interesting to develop new approaches to rule of law projects that indirectly support the implementation of other development projects and their goals. Such a new approach is pursued by the Legal and Administrative Reform Project in Kosovo, after another project dealing with sustainable waste management had noticed that violations of environmental law, such as illegal waste disposal or disregard of environmental regulations, are not effectively pursued in Kosovo. Namely, the majority of imposed fines are not enforced in a timely manner and therefore prescribe, making We have a very interesting article that breaks a little with the thematic scheme handled, bringing us a new topic: Environmental Law. The environment is not a topic that we touch on very often in this Journal, however, it is a very current issue that affects the development of human rights in a direct way. The implementation of improvements in the environmental law of any country means an increase in the healthiness of the environment and in the development of the people, so the strengthening of environmental law is of great importance for the rule of law. This article shows how new approaches to the rule of law can be given, from supporting the implementation of other goals of the 2030 agenda. We invite you to read this contribution, which we hope may inspire you to consider new goals within your areas of work.

the sanction lose its effect. This gives both private individuals and companies the fatal impression that environmental law can be violated without consequences. For a better understanding of the issue, it is first necessary to take a brief look on how environmental fines in Kosovo are imposed and executed. In contrast to Germany, fines or administrative acts are not issued directly by the public authorities. The Inspectorate of the Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning, as the responsible supervisory and compliance authority, carries out inspections and records violations of environmental law. The fines are then reviewed by the so-called Minor Offence Court for their legality and then issued to the recipient via a fine notice. However, in 90% of cases this does not happen within the two-year statute of limitations. The reasons for this are diverse and range from insufficient personnel and technical

capacities in the court to incomplete documentation of the Inspectorate, which make it impossible for the court to issue and send the fine notices. Finally, the notices, which are nevertheless issued, are enforced by Private Enforcement Agents if the recipient does not pay within the granted time limits. Since a 2017 amendment to the law, the Inspectorate has been allowed to issue fines itself if the fine imposed does not exceed a certain amount. While this simplification of procedures is in principle to be welcomed, it has posed the new challenge to set up an administrative procedure within the Inspectorate from the ground up. Against this background, the project aims to strengthen the conditions for the implementation of environmental law to improve the enforcement of fines issued for environmental violations. Among the prerequisites to be strengthened are the internal

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123 Although the enforcement agents are referred to as “private” enforcement agents in the Kosovo Law 04/L-139 on Enforcement Procedure, they are not a private, but a public institution. In order to avoid any misunderstandings, there have previously been considerations to change the wording of the law.