"No agreement on return of Serb judges"
A Serbian Ministry of Justice official denied that an agreement was reached with EULEX on the return of local judges to a northern Mitrovica court.
(KosovoCompromise Staff) Friday, March 26, 2010
State Secretary with the Ministry of Justice Slobodan Homen also announced in Belgrade on Thursday that the talks would continue, "after fulfillment of certain principles".
"For the sake of truth and proper informing of our citizens in Kosovo and Metohija, I have to say that no agreement has been reached," Homen told Tanjug news agency, refuting Pristina's Albanian language daily Koha Ditore reports.
The newspaper said that #EULEX and Belgrade have agreed that EULEX will propose to the Kosovo authorities the return of two Serb, two Albanian and two international community judges", to the District Court in the northern, predominantly Serb part of the ethnically divided town.
Homen pointed out that the talks with EULEX on the return of the Serb judges and prosecutors will be continued, adding that it is particularly important to address three crucial issues.
"First of all, which laws will be applied by the court, whether these will be Serbian, international or maybe Kosovo institutions' laws - the last being unacceptable to Serbia," Homen was quoted as saying.
"Furthermore, it is important to resolve the territorial competence of the court - whether it will be in charge of the people in the southern part of the city or only in northern (Kosovska) Mitrovica, since this would condition the choice of judges according to their nationality," he continued.
Homen added that the third issue that had to be addressed was the seat of the second-instance court.
