The court in Pristina annulled the Government's decision on the expropriation of land in northern Kosovo

The Basic Court in Pristina, Department for Administrative Affairs, has issued a judgment annulling the preliminary decision of the Kosovo Government regarding the expropriation of land in the municipalities of Leposavic and Zubin Potok from May of last year and has returned it for reconsideration, as stated in the judgment, which Kosovo Online had insight into.

In this way, the court, through the decision made on December 18, essentially confirmed that these expropriations were illegal and contrary to the law. Bases constructed in these areas were without legal grounds, a fact pointed out by owners and the public in northern Kosovo for months.

Namely, the Pristina court, acting upon the lawsuit filed by Miljan J. and Jordan J. on June 21 against the Government in Pristina, requesting the annulment of Decision 09/142 on expropriation made on May 10, 2023, confirmed that a part of their land in the settlement of Gazivode (cadastral zone Velji Breg) in the municipality of Zubin Potok was encompassed by the decision on illegal expropriation.

On May 10, 2023, the Government in Pristina retroactively adopted a decision on the expropriation of land belonging to Serbian households, intending to justify the already-built illegal police bases in northern Kosovo.

The decision of the Pristina Government that has been challenged by this court ruling reads, “Expropriation is approved for public interest properties necessary for the implementation of infrastructure projects of public interest in the cadastral zones Bistrica, Saljska Bistrica, Dren, Lesak, Kosutovo in the municipality of Leposavic, and cadastral zones Brnjak, Zubin Potok, Velji Breg, Banje, and Gornji Jasenovik in the municipality of Zubin Potok according to the tables described in the relevant cadastral records...“

The court has considered all the arguments presented in the lawsuit that the preliminary decision is unfounded, contrary to the Kosovo Expropriation Law, and lacks any justification for why the land is expropriated. It also highlighted that the bases had been constructed on private land even before the expropriation process had begun. Moreover, the court emphasized that the decision of the Pristina Government had violated the principles of property rights protection.

“The preliminary decision of the defendant Government of Kosovo, number 09/142, dated 10.05.2023, is annulled, and the case is returned to the defendant for reconsideration and decision“, states the court's ruling.

The court stressed that “the Government of Kosovo failed to explain in the preliminary decision the achievement of a public goal in the case of approving expropriation of real estate for public interest“. Additionally, it noted that 'the defendant (Government of Kosovo) did not provide evidence that it held a public discussion in the municipality of Zubin Potok where the properties of the plaintiff are located'.

Furthermore, the court ruled that “the defendant did not clearly explain and argue why it is necessary to expropriate the real estate of the plaintiff in this specific case, did not clarify the facts for property owners for whom the preliminary decision for expropriation was issued, and did not specify the legal public purpose in the case of expropriation“.

The court also evaluated that the right to property protected by Protocol 1 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Freedoms and the highest legal act of Kosovo had been confirmed.