Parallel Courts in Post-Conflict Kosovo

In Kosovo today, two parallel judicial systems each claim absolute and exclusive jurisdiction over the province. One system is sponsored by the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo ("UNMIK"), the other by the government of Serbia ("Serbia"). The UNMIK courts are new creations, staffed mostly by Kosovo Albanians and a few members of the minority Serb population, but controlled primarily by the international UNMIK administration. For the United Nations, these courts are the incarnation of its claim to have established rule of law under principles of non-discrimination and ethnic integration.

For Serbia, they are illegitimate occupiers' courts, symbolizing the continued foreign domination of Serbian territory.