Ruairi O'Connell

Police and Courts

A friend told me (with some glee) a story today.

He was driving from Pristina to the city of Peja/Pec in Western Kosovo, when he was stopped by a Kosovo Police Service (KPS) officer.
The Officer asked:
"Is this your car sir? Only I notice that it is a private vehicle, but it has a government pass in the window"
"That's because I work for the government"
"What do you do, sir?"
"I'm an advisor to the Prime Minister"
"Congratulations. Anyway, you were speeding, so I'll have to give you a ticket".

Readers from the Balkans will see the relevance of the story. The idea that the police could, or would, issue tickets to senior political figures (and their entourages) is quite a novelty - and a big step forward. In fact, the Kosovo Police Service (or KPS - see  <http://www.kosovopolice.com>) has been a success story in this regard. Created in September 1999, the KPS was created from scratch to be able, eight years later, to take on the primary responsibility for policing in Kosovo. A poll this week recorded a 79% satisfaction rate amongst the Kosovo population. A considerable achievement in such a short period of time.

However, this shouldn't disguise the challenges that remain. Whilst the public have faith in the KPS to carry out core policing tasks, maintaining public order and policing traffic fairly and effectively, they remain unconvinced about the police's ability to investigate more serious crime. And the KPS, whilst enjoying support from the other communities, is not much trusted by the Kosovo Serbs, mostly due to its perceived failings in investigating serious crimes (where actually the picture is mixed; little success in the aftermath of the 1999 conflict, but, for example, over 150 convictions following the March 2004 riots).

This contrasts with the poll results for the court system - just 18% trust. The latest European Commission report (http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/pdf/key_documents/2007/nov/kosovo_progress_reports_en.pdf) sets out the shortcomings well: "the system remains weak". I suspect that the international community finds it easier to support police development than the court system; it's easier to understand, and we've had more practice. Even so, it is vital to get the court system right; there is no point having a professional police force if the court system cannot provide 'downstream' support. A taxi driver (a great barometer for diplomats), on discovering I was a British diplomat, said, unprompted, that he looked forward to the EU Rule of law mission arriving in Kosovo (see <http://www.eupt-kosovo.eu>). He hoped that the EU would take what he called "harsh measures"; no national pride to damage, he hoped that the EU would be fearless in investigating crime - wherever the investigations lead. That's why, I told him, that the EU will deal not only with the police, but also with the court system. I think he approved.

Thanks to Rory and Stefan for their comments. I'm off to see some more Kosovo Serb villagers tomorrow. I'll try and answer your points next time.

Posted at 10:18 07 February 2008 by Ruairi O'Connell  |  Comments[3]