The Assembly of Kosovo on Thursday approved the Law on the State Bureau for the Verification and Confiscation of Unjustified Assets, after receiving a green light from the Venice Commission in 2022.

The law foresees that all public officials in Kosovo will be subject to verification of assets if there are any suspicions that they were acquired illegally.  

In case of a discrepancy between income and property that exceeds the value of 25,000 euros, the Bureau will send the case to court for confiscation.

Verification and confiscation of unjustifiable assets will also apply to family members and third parties of public officials. This means those persons to whom it is suspected that the assets of public officials have been transferred.

The opposition Democratic League of Kosovo, LDK, said that while it supported the law, it was still concerned about its potential for political misuse.

“Let the bureau do it, let it confiscate, but let’s all make sure together that it will not be politicized, that it will not deal with those who barely survive on remittances, but deal precisely with high-level profiles, as we have said, with those whom justice forgot. Our vote is in favour,” declared Doarsa Kica-Xhelilim, a legislator from the LDK.

On the other hand, the opposition Democratic Party of Kosovo, PDK, on Thursday declared that it will send the law to the Constitutional Court.

The law was sent to the Assembly of Kosovo for approval in February 2022.

At that time, opposition parties requested that the draft law be sent to the Venice Commission. 

They also did not agree that this bureau should be led by only one director. They expressed concerns also that the creation of the bureau reflected a tendency to create parallel judicial institutions.

The Assembly then sent the draft law to the Venice Commission for an opinion, and in June got the opinion.

According to the Minister of Justice, Albulena Haxhiu, the Venice Commission recommended certain legal and constitutional changes, in order to achieve the intended result of a judiciary with professional integrity and efficiency.

Under the new law, unjustifiable wealth is deemed to be acquired wealth which does not match the legal income of an official.

The Assembly in principle approved the draft law for the State Bureau for the Verification and Confiscation of Unjustifiable Assets, in July 2022 after it received the opinion from the Venice Commission.

The law on the State Bureau for Verification and Confiscation of Unjustified Assets covers the period from February 17, 2008, and the period within ten years of the moment when public officials cease to exercise their function.

It states that the Bureau will be led by the general director who is voted into office by the Assembly with the majority of votes of deputies present. 

Voting for the election of the director is done in secret. The director’s term lasts five years.

Property confiscated under this Law will be administered by the Agency for the Administration of Seized or Confiscated Property.