The Acting President of the Republic of Kosovo, Albulena Haxhiu, participated today at the Administrative Court opening ceremony, which was also attended by the Acting Minister of Justice Donika Gërvalla, Arjeta Sadiku, Deputy Chairperson of the Kosovo Judicial Council, Fejzullah Rexhepi, President of the Supreme Court of Kosovo, the Acting Deputy Minister of Justice Genc Nimoni, the Acting President of the Administrative Court Rexhep Gashi, the Head of EULEX Mission in Kosovo Giovanni Pietro Barbano and Alfons Lentz from the European Union Office in Kosovo.
On this occasion, Acting President Haxhiu said that the commencement of the work of the Administrative Court is undoubtedly an important day for our justice system, but it’s true importance will be felt outside these premises.
“In offices, in homes where citizens are awaiting their answers, within families that depend on a decision, in the daily work of the administration and in the trust that people have in relation to the state and the institutions of the Republic of Kosovo. What may be just another file to the administration, for the citizen is his place of work, a parent’s pension, a family salary, a necessary assistance, a license to work, or a right that he has been seeking for months or years. Therefore, it should be emphasized that administrative decisions directly affect the lives of the citizens of the Republic of Kosovo”, said Acting President Haxhiu.
She said that when we started this work at the Ministry of Justice, we had before us a problem affecting many citizens of the Republic: the state decides, while the citizen is often forced to wait for a long time to understand whether the decision of an institution is fair or legal, whether it is justified, whether there is room for complaint and whether his complaint will be taken seriously.
“In a democratic republic, the decision of the administration cannot leave the citizen without a way out. It must be based on the law, clearly justified and can be challenged when the citizen believes that a right has been violated. Even today, in a different capacity, I see this court with the same conviction. Reform is therefore not measured by the moment it is written into law, but the moment when the citizen begins to feel it in his or her life. And today, with the opening of the Administrative Court, I strongly hope that the citizen of the Republic will feel the hand of the state, and I also hope that every hand that touches the life of the citizen will be careful, prudent and responsible”, emphasized the Acting President.
She further added that the Administrative Court will also be important for the administration itself.
According to her, each of its decisions will be a lesson for the public office: how an act should be justified, how a deadline should be respected, how the party should be treated and how the repetition of the mistake should be avoided.
She further said that the State becomes better when it accepts to be corrected.
“The work of the court will not only be important for the citizen who wins a dispute. But it will also be important for the administration that learns from that dispute. Because every decision of this court will also speak to the public office: to show where it went wrong, how a decision should be justified, how it should act next time. This is how the habit of responsibility is built in the state”, added Acting President Haxhiu.
She thanked all those who have worked in this important process: the working group within the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Justice, the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo, the Judicial Council, the judges, especially the administrative ones who have never hesitated to be in the working groups of the Ministry of Justice at that time and to give their professional contribution.
“Thank you very much, because of course the work of the officials in the Ministry of Justice at that time was exceptional, but it is different when you learn new lessons, comments, proposals from those who deal with such issues every day! Therefore, thank you for all this engagement that you have made! And the partners who helped the Ministry of Justice at that time too,” emphasized Acting President Haxhiu.
In her address to the participants, she said that from today on, this court will speak through its decisions, through the cases that it handles without delay and through cases when the administrative error is corrected and when the citizen sees that he is not defenceless.
“So, this is its meaning. I hope that its work brings citizens closer to justice and keeps the administration closer to responsibility! I wish good luck to all the judges who will be engaged in this Court. Also, to the professional staff, associates, legal officers and all other staff who will be engaged as well,” said Acting President Haxhiu at the conclusion of her address.
