A part of the property in the north is being returned to the owners; the Government of Kosovo continues with the decision on expropriation

The Government of Kosovo lost two court cases related to land in the north expropriated for the construction of police stations and announced the decision that the property of prosecutors who had won the cases would not be covered by expropriation, Koha reports. However, the decision applies only to a part of the property, allowing the government to proceed with the final decision on expropriation.

The Government states that the property will be returned to prosecutors who won the cases and will not be covered by the final decision on expropriation.

"We have two court decisions that prohibit expropriation in relation to only some property of certain citizens, some individuals who have filed lawsuits before our courts. So, it does not annul the Government's decision on expropriation. Therefore, the Government can continue with making the final decision on expropriation, excluding the parcels of these individuals according to these court decisions," Government spokesperson Perparim Kryeziu said.

The Supreme Court confirmed that it had not received any appeals regarding these cases.

Last year, the Government expropriated the property in the police station "Cendra" in Zubin Potok, where the Post of Kosovo and the offices of the Civil Registration Agency are located. The ownership was contested by Pristina and 27 Serbian prosecutors in Zubin Potok and Leposavic.

In two out of five court cases related to expropriation, prosecutors won, while the Government won three. The explanation in these three cases won by the Government, both in the Basic Court in Pristina and in the appellate process, states that the administrative decision can be challenged in court only when it takes the form of a final decision.

The Government's decisions on expropriation in the north are preliminary and not final, Koha recalls. In judgments where the Government lost the case, the court decided to annul the preliminary decisions of the government.

In the judgment regarding the Jaksic family, it is stated that the Government violated deadlines, emphasizing that the property right is absolute.

"In this particular case, the expropriation authority seriously violated the procedural rules provided by Article 10 of the Law on the Expropriation of Immovable Property and was obliged to start from the day when the conditions described in Article 8 of the same law were fulfilled within 10 calendar days by which interested parties have the right to comment on the requested expropriation. Since the procedural rules were not followed, the factual situation was wrongly established, leading to an unlawful decision to accept the request," the Basic Court in Pristina said.