Visoki Decani: Why hasn't the Kosovo Constitutional Court's decision regarding the monastery's land been implemented for 7 years?

The Visoki Decani Monastery has announced that former President of Yugoslavia Slobodan Milosevic was not involved in the decision to return 24 hectares of land to the monastery in 1997. They stated that the decision was based on the right of Visoki Decani to reclaim at least a portion of the 700 hectares of property that was taken from the monastery by the communist authorities in 1946 and for the land to be returned to its rightful owner.

In response to Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani's statement that the return of land to Visoki Decani should not be resolved based on Slobodan Milosevic's decisions, the monastery questioned why tens of thousands of decisions from that time benefiting Albanians were not automatically considered illegal.

"Why should this discriminatory position apply only to the land of Visoki Decani Monastery? And why has the Constitutional Court decision on the monastery land not been implemented for seven years, with the full legal impunity of the local authorities?" the monastery asked.

On the official Facebook page of the Visoki Decani Monastery, it is suggested that the scale of legal chaos that would arise if all court decisions from the time of Milosevic's rule in Kosovo from 1989 to 1999 were legally challenged should be considered.

"Once the Visoki Decani Monastery's right to 24 hectares of land was confirmed by the Kosovo Constitutional Court ruling, it ceased to be merely a decision from 1997 but became the ruling of the highest court in Kosovo in 2016. Furthermore, all international representatives in Kosovo, along with their legal teams which looked into this issue, unanimously agree that the Decani Monastery land Court ruling must be implemented and the land inscribed in the cadastral records. This position has been reiterated several times in the last seven years by the representatives of the EU, OSCE, Quint ambassadors, and many others. But regrettably, nothing has been done and we can regularly read statements of Kosovo officials who deny the legality of this Court decision and refuse its implementation, which seriously endangers the rights of the Monastery," the monastery stated.

They emphasize that restitution of the land of religious communities taken away by Communist authorities in several EU and other countries remains a high legal priority.

"It is important to note that Slobodan Milosevic himself was not involved in the 1997 decision to restore 24 hectares of land to the Decani Monastery. This decision, made by the Serbian authorities of that time, was based on the legal right of the Monastery to have at least a portion of the 700 hectares, confiscated by the Communist authorities in 1946, returned to its legal owner," the Visoki Decani Monastery added.

They state that the Supreme and Constitutional Courts in Kosovo have deliberated on all issues related to the case of the land of the Visoki Decani Monastery under full international supervision, allowing all parties to freely present their arguments.

"The litigation on several legal levels lasted almost 16 years. Eventually, the Constitutional Court of Kosovo issued a final and binding "res judicata" decision in 2016. Three years later, in 2019, the Constitutional Court of Kosovo sent a letter to the monastery, following its complaint about the non-implementation of the Court ruling, and fully confirmed that the 2016 decision of the Constitutional Court was obligatory," the monastery's statement reads.

They add further that the strong determination of the Kosovo government and Decani municipal administration not to implement the 2016 Constitutional Court ruling, and even to declare it illegal, despite all international requests, contradicts above stated readiness to guarantee the protection of the Serbian Orthodox Church's property in Kosovo. 

"On the contrary, such behavior towards the Decani Monastery presents a serious discouragement to all those who trust that the legally binding court decisions of the highest court in Kosovo should be implemented and directly compromises the rule of law in Kosovo. At the same time, this stance significantly discourages Kosovo Serbs and other citizens from freely exercising their rights to protect their property through the Kosovo legal system and makes a negative influence on religious and ethnic relations in Kosovo," the Visoki Decani Monastery concluded.