We, the undersigned representatives of civil society organizations from the Serbian
community in Kosovo, express serious concern and protest regarding the decision of the
Kosovo Minister of Justice on the appointment of notaries, which did not include a single
notary from the Serbian community among the 100 appointed notaries.
Regarding this decision, we emphasize that there are currently ten Serbian lawyers in
Kosovo who have passed the notary exam in Kosovo, and five of them applied for notary
positions in several municipalities in Kosovo. It is extremely worrying that none of them
have been appointed to a notary position in any municipality in Kosovo. Particularly
concerning is the fact that a candidate from the Serbian community who applied for
positions in two municipalities in northern Kosovo was not appointed, despite meeting all
the requirements and having significant legal experience. Additionally, it is inexplicable
that, despite several candidates from the Serbian community with extensive legal
experience, no one from this community was appointed to the notary position in
Graçanicë/Gračanica, a municipality with a Serbian majority; instead, a candidate from
the Albanian community was appointed. The situation is similar in other municipalities
included in this vacancy announcement for notary positions. In this regard, we emphasize
that at no point do we dispute the qualifications of candidates from the Albanian
community, but we highlight the consequences that may arise from the exclusion of
candidates from the Serbian community in the aforementioned decision and the negative
message it sends to the Serbian community in Kosovo.
We warn that the mentioned decision by the Kosovo Minister of Justice will lead to new
problems in terms of ensuring the rights of members of non-majority communities in
Kosovo, considering that from personal experience, we know that Albanian notaries
provide services in Albanian language even in cases where the parties are exclusively
Serbian. Although this is allowed by the Law on Notaries (Article 32.1), such a practice
limits the right of Serbs in Kosovo to receive services in the Serbian language, which is
an official language in Kosovo according to the Constitution of Kosovo (Article 5.1).
Additionally, the aforementioned decision can, unfortunately, be interpreted as a message
that Serbs and members of other non-majority communities are not welcome in
institutions and liberal professions in Kosovo, even those who, under existing
circumstances, have shown a desire to provide services to all communities in Kosovo.
Given the above, we call on the Kosovo Minister of Justice to consider our request for
revising the decision on the appointment of notaries in municipalities with a Serbian
majority. We also urge all international missions and diplomatic representations in
Kosovo, as well as civil society organizations from the majority community in Kosovo, to
react to prevent further escalation of tensions and the growth of mistrust of non-majority
communities towards Kosovo institutions and the Government of Kosovo. We expect all
actors to act in good faith and demonstrate their proclaimed commitment to creating and
maintaining a multi-ethnic society in Kosovo.
Signatories:
Advocacy Center for Democratic Culture – ACDC
New Social Initiative – NSI
NGO Aktiv
Communication for Social Development – CSD
Institute for Territorial Economic Development – InTER
Omladinska Parteska Aktivnost – OPA
Association of Business Women “Avenija”
NGO Santa Maria
