Zivanovic: If the US stopped funding the Special Court, it would not significantly undermine its work

Lawyer Zoran Zivanovic does not believe that the Specialized Chambers in The Hague will be shut down if Donald Trump returns to power in the United States. He states that even if the US were to withdraw its funding for the court, this would not significantly undermine its work.

Zivanovic points out that the Specialized Chambers were established by the European Union, which is the primary financier of their work.

“The appointed judges and prosecutors are mostly from EU countries. It is also important to note that, in addition to the US, some non-EU countries, such as Canada, Switzerland, Turkey, and Norway, contribute to funding this court,” Zivanovic says.

If the court were to be abolished, Zivanovic explains that the cases currently before it would fall under the jurisdiction of Kosovo’s legal system.

“If such a situation arose, the cases would be handed over to Kosovo’s prosecution, judges, basic and appellate courts, the Supreme Court of Kosovo, and investigations would be conducted by the Kosovo Police, as is already the case,” Zivanovic notes.

When asked whether this might raise doubts about the impartiality of trials, the lawyer says such doubts would be extremely high. He adds that precisely because of such concerns, the Specialized Chambers were established and located in The Hague.

“This was done due to established facts showing that Kosovo’s judiciary, when handling war crimes cases, was extraordinarily lenient toward perpetrators from Kosovo. For this reason, two very significant decisions were made: first, to relocate the court's seat from Kosovo to The Hague; and second, that judges, prosecutors, and all court personnel be exclusively foreigners, to eliminate any potential for undue influence on judicial functions if the court were to operate within Kosovo,” Zivanovic explains.

Considering that Richard Grenell, a close associate of Donald Trump, stated last year that if Trump were to become president again, he would work toward ensuring that Hashim Thaci, who is currently on trial before this court, is freed, Zivanovic says this could be about political interests.

“In his role, Hashim Thaci was much more cooperative with the US and the international community compared to Albin Kurti. There might be an American interest, and possibly that of others, in bringing Thaci and his political faction back to power in Kosovo. This faction might be more accommodating and acceptable to the West, facilitating Western policies toward Kosovo and the Balkans in general,” Zivanovic concludes.