Interim Agreement for Peace and Self-Government in Kosovo (1999) (excerpts related to Confidence-Building Measures and Elections) (English)
Interim Agreement forPeace and Self-Government in Kosovo
(relevant parts of Framework provisions and Chapter II: Constitution)
(emphasis added)
February, 23 1999
The Parties to the present Agreement,
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Have agreed as follows:
Framework
Article I: Principles
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4. Citizens in Kosovo shall have the right to democratic self-government through legislative, executive, judicial, and other institutions established in accordance with this Agreement. They shall have the opportunity to be represented in all institutions in Kosovo. The right to democratic self-government shall include the right to participate in free and fair elections.
5. Every person in Kosovo may have access to international institutions for the protection of their rights in accordance with the procedures of such institutions.
6. The Parties accept that they will act only within their powers and responsibilities in Kosovo as specified by this Agreement. Acts outside those powers and responsibilities shall be null and void. Kosovo shall have all rights and powers set forth herein, including in particular as specified in the Constitution at Chapter 1. This Agreement shall prevail over any other legal provisions of the Parties and shall be directly applicable. The Parties shall harmonize their governing practices and documents with this Agreement.
7. The Parties agree to cooperate fully with all international organizations working in Kosovo on the implementation of this Agreement.
Article II: Confidence-Building Measures
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Independent Media
14. Recognizing the importance of free and independent media for the development of a democratic political climate necessary for the reconstruction and development of Kosovo, the Parties shall ensure the widest possible press freedoms in Kosovo in all media, public and private, including print, television, radio, and Internet.
Chapter 1
Constitution
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Desiring through this interim Constitution to establish institutions of democratic self-government in Kosovo grounded in respect for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and from this Agreement, from which the authorities of governance set forth herein originate,
Recognizing that the institutions of Kosovo should fairly represent the national communities in Kosovo and foster the exercise of their rights and those of their members,
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Article I: Principles of Democratic Self-Government in Kosovo
1. Kosovo shall govern itself democratically through the legislative, executive, judicial, and other organs and institutions specified herein. Organs and institutions of Kosovo shall exercise their authorities consistent with the terms of this Agreement.
2. All authorities in Kosovo shall fully respect human rights, democracy, and the equality of citizens and national communities.
3. The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia has competence in Kosovo over the following areas, except as specified elsewhere in this Agreement:
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(f) customs services,
(g) federal taxation,
(h) federal elections, and
(i) other areas specified in this Agreement.
4. The Republic of Serbia shall have competence in Kosovo as specified in this Agreement, including in relation to Republic elections.
5. Citizens in Kosovo-may continue to participate in areas in which the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the Republic of Serbia have competence through their representation in relevant institutions, without prejudice to the exercise of competence by Kosovo authorities set forth in this Agreement.
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8. The basic territorial unit of local self-government in Kosovo shall be the commune. All responsibilities in Kosovo not expressly assigned elsewhere shall be the responsibility of the communes.
9. To preserve and promote democratic self-government in Kosovo, all candidates for appointed, elective, or other public office, and all office holders, shall meet the following criteria:
(a) No person who is serving a sentence imposed by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, and no person who is under indictment by the Tribunal and who has failed to comply with an order to appear before the Tribunal, may stand as a candidate or hold any office; and
(b) All candidates and office holders shall renounce violence as a mechanism for achieving political goals; past political or resistance activities shall not be a bar to holding office in Kosovo.
Article II: The Assembly
General
1. Kosovo shall have an Assembly, which shall be comprised of 120 Members.
(a) Eighty members shall be directly elected.
(b) A further 40 Members shall be elected by the members of qualifying national communities.
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(i) Communities whose members constitute more than 0.5 per cent of the Kosovo population but less than 5 per cent shall have ten of these seats, to be divided among them in accordance with their proportion of the overall population.
(ii) communities whose members constitute more than 5 per cent of the Kosovo population shall divide the remaining thirty seats equally. The Serb and Albanian national communities shall be presumed to meet the 5 per cent population threshold.
Other Provisions
2. Elections for all Members shall be conducted democratically, consistent with the provisions of Chapter 3 of this Agreement. Members shall be elected for a term of three years.
3. Allocation of seats in the Assembly shall be based on data gathered in the census referred to in Chapter 5 of this Agreement. Prior to the completion of the census, for purposes of this Article declarations of national community membership made during voter registration shall be used to determine the percentage of the Kosovo population that each national community represents.
4. Members of the Assembly shall be immune from all civil or criminal proceedings on the basis of words expressed or other acts performed in their capacity as Members of the Assembly.
Powers of the Assembly
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(a) The Assembly shall be responsible for:
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(xvi) Regulating elections consistent with Chapters 3 and 5;
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Article IV: Government and Administrative Organs
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2. Administrative organs shall be responsible for assisting the Government in carrying out its duties.
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(b) Any citizen in Kosovo claiming to have been directly and adversely affected by the decision of an executive or administrative body shall have the right to-judicial review of the legality of that decision after exhausting all avenues for administrative review. The Assembly shall enact a law to regulate this review.
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Article VI: Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms
1. All authorities in Kosovo shall ensure internationally recognized human rights and fundamental freedoms.
2. The rights and freedoms set forth in the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and its Protocols shall apply directly in Kosovo. Other internationally recognized human rights instruments enacted into law by the Kosovo Assembly shall also apply. These rights and freedoms shall have priority over all other law.
3. All courts, agencies, governmental institutions, and other public institutions of Kosovo or operating in relation to Kosovo shall conform to these human rights and fundamental freedoms.
Article VII: National Communities
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2. Each national community may elect, through democratic means and in a manner consistent with the principles of Chapter 3 of this Agreement, institutions to administer its affairs in Kosovo.
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5. Members of national communities shall also be individually guaranteed:
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(e) the right to participate in democratic institutions that will determine the national community's exercise of the collective rights set forth in this Article; and
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7. Every person shall have the right freely to choose to be treated or not to be treated as belonging to a national community, and no disadvantage shall result from that choice or from the exercise of the rights connected to that choice.
Article VIII: Communes
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3. Each commune shall have an Assembly, an Executive Council, and such administrative bodies as the commune may establish.
(a) Each national community whose membership constitutes at least three percent of the population of the commune shall be represented on the Council in proportion to its share of the communal population or by one member, whichever is greater.
(b) Prior to the completion of a census, disputes over communal population percentages for purposes of this paragraph shall be resolved by reference to declarations of national community membership in the voter registry.
Article IX: Representation
l. Citizens in Kosovo shall have the right to participate in the election of:
(a) At least 10 deputies in the House of Citizens of the Federal Assembly; and
(b) At least 20 deputies in the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia.
2. The modalities of elections for the deputies specified in paragraph 1 shall be determined by the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the Republic of Serbia respectively, under procedures to be agreed with the Chief of the Implementation Mission.
3. The Assembly shall have the opportunity to present to the appropriate authorities a list of candidates from which shall be drawn:
(a) At least one citizen in Kosovo to serve in the Federal Government, and at least one citizen in Kosovo to serve in the Government of the Republic of Serbia; and
(b) At least one judge on the Federal Constitutional Court, one judge on the Federal Court, and three judges on the Supreme Court of Serbia.
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