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Kosovo Property Claims Commission
  • Mandate of KPCC
  • Commissioners
  • Press Releases
  • Statistics
  • Decisions

Kosovo Property Claims Commission

Establishment

The Kosovo Property Claims Commission (KPCC) is the quasi-judicial decision-making body within the Kosovo Property Agency (KPA) which was established pursuant to UNMIK Regulations 2006/10 ‘On the Resolution of Claims Relating to Private Immoveable Property, including Agricultural and Commercial Property’ (as amended).
The KPA/KPCC operates as a mass claims processing  mechanism in the field of post-conflict property restitution with the objective of facilitating the exercise of property rights by persons displaced by the armed conflict in Kosovo in 1998-1999 irrespective of their ethnicity. Similar mass claims facilities have been created in other post-conflict situations, including in Bosnia.   Article 1 of Protocol 1 to the European Convention on Human Rights confirms the basic human right to the enjoyment of possessions, including private property.


Mandate


The mandate of the KPCC is to resolve conflict-related ownership and use rights claims with respect to private immoveable property involving circumstances directly related to or resulting from the armed conflict that occurred between 27 February 1998 and 20 June 1999 where the claimant is not now able to exercise such property rights.
Claims involving property disputes unrelated to the 1998-1999 conflict fall outside of the mandate of the KPCC and will continue to be resolved through the local court system.   Similarly, claims not involving private immoveable property fall outside of the KPCC mandate.
The KPCC is authorized to confirm ownership and use rights claimed by parties, make orders for possession of the property, including eviction orders in relation to unlawful occupants, and grant, refuse or dismiss claims.


Operations


The KPCC conducts sessions every two months for the resolution of claims presented to it for adjudication by the Executive Secretariat of the KPA. KPCC decisions are subject to the right of appeal only to the Supreme Court of Kosovo, KPA Appeals Panel.   The KPCC consists of two international Commissioners and one local Commissioner.

Commissioners

The current members of the Commission are:

Mr. Veijo Heiskanen (Finland) serves as chairman of the KPCC. Previously he was an international member of the Housing and Property Claims Commission in Kosovo.  He was a graduate of the University of Helsinki and Harvard Law School; he was conferred with his LL.M. in 1988 and S.J.D. in 1992.  He specialized in international law; commercial arbitration law, trade law and internet law.  Prior to his position with LALIVE Attorneys-at-Law in Geneva, he served as Secretary General and Senior Claims Judge of the Claims Resolution Tribunal for Dormant Accounts in Switzerland (2001-2002); Director of the Institute of International Economic Law of the University of Helsinki (1998-2000); Deputy Chief of the Legal Service of the UN Compensation Commission (1994-1998); and Legal Advisor with the Iran-US Claims Tribunal in the Hague (1990-1994).  He lectured in various institutions, including at the University of Helsinki and the Hague Academy of International Law; has been a Visiting Scholar with the UN University in Tokyo (1999); he worked for the Arbitration Commission of the International Conference for the Former Yugoslavia (1993); and was also a member of the Steering Committee on International Mass Claims Processes at the Permanent Court of Arbitration. He is the author of numerous publications on international law; international arbitration and dispute settlements.

Mr. Norbert Wühler (Germany) is an international member of the KPCC. He graduated and received his doctorate in law from the University of Heidelberg. He is currently Director of Reparation Programmes at the International Organization for Migration. His previous positions include Chief of the Legal Services Branch of the United Nations Compensation Commission (1992-2000), Legal Adviser to the President and Deputy Secretary-General of the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal (1983-1991), research fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law in Heidelberg (1978-1983) and attorney admitted to the bars of Heidelberg and Mannheim (1979-1983). He has been chairman, member and secretary of several international arbitral tribunals, has been an adviser to the Commission for Real Property Claims in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Eritrea-Ethiopia Claims Commission, and is a member of the Steering Committee on Mass Claims Processes at the Permanent Court of Arbitration and of an Expert Advisory Group on Victims Participation and Reparations at the International Criminal Court. He has taught and published on international property and compensation claims, dispute resolution, state responsibility and international arbitration.

Mr Adem Vokshi (Kosovo) is the national member of the KPCC.  He obtained his law degree in 1975 from the University of Prishtinë/Priština.  From 1975 to 1978, he practiced as an attorney with the District Court of Pejë/Peć and from 1978 to 1982, he served as a judge in the District Court of Mitrovicë/Mitrovica. From 1982 until 2009 he worked in private practice in Mitrovicë/Mitrovica, specialising in civil and administrative law.  From 2004 to 2006 he served as President of the Kosovo Chamber of Advocates.  He has lectured and presented seminars on a variety of legal issues for national and international institutions, including the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the European Council, the Kosovo Judicial Institute and the Kosovo Chamber of Advocates.  Topics covered include trial advocacy, evidence, representation of parties in civil proceedings, provision of legal remedies for minority groups in Kosovo, implementation of contested, uncontested and executive procedure, victim’s protection, measures to ensure transparency and anti-corruption in the Kosovo judicial system and the prevention of financial crime. He has also conducted seminars on the provision of free legal relief. Since 2002, he has lectured in civil procedure for candidates training for the bar exam and, since 2008, on civil procedure for candidates training as judges. Mr Vokshi has appeared before courts at all levels in Kosovo including in the Municipal, District and Supreme Courts. He is former member of Kosovo Judicial Council.

PRESS RELEASES   
KOSOVO PROPERTY CLAIMS COMMISSION FEBRUARY 2010 SESSION
KOSOVO PROPERTY CLAIMS COMMISSION APRIL 2010 SESSION
KOSOVO PROPERTY CLAIMS COMMISSION JUNE 2010 SESSION
KOSOVO PROPERTY CLAIMS COMMISSION AUGUST 2010 SESSION
KOSOVO PROPERTY CLAIMS COMMISSION OCTOBER 2010 SESSION
KOSOVO PROPERTY CLAIMS COMMISSION DECEMBER 2010 SESSION
KOSOVO PROPERTY CLAIMS COMMISSION FEBRUARY 2011 SESSION
Statistics
Statistics on Claim Adjudication June 2010
Statistics on Claim Adjudication August 2010
Statistics on Claim Adjudication December 2010
Statistics on Claim Adjudication February 2011
Decisions 2011
25th KPCC Session
DEC_C_132
DEC_R_131
DEC_R_130
DEC_R_129
DEC_A_128
DEC_A_127
DEC_A_126
24th KPCC Session
DEC_C_125
DEC_R_124
DEC_R_123
DEC_R_122
DEC_A_121
DEC_A_120
DEC_A_119
23rd KPCC Session
DEC_C_118
DEC_R_117
DEC_R_116
DEC_R_115
DEC_A_114
DEC_A_113
DEC_A_112
22nd KPCC Session
DEC_C_111
DEC_R_110
DEC_R_109
DEC_A_108
DEC_A_107
DEC_A_106
21st KPCC Session
DEC_R_105
DEC_R_104
DEC_AR_103
DEC_A_102
DEC_AR_101
DEC_A_100
Decisions 2010
20th KPCC Session
DEC_A_99
DEC_A_98
DEC_A_97
19th KPCC Session
DEC_R_96
DEC_R_95
DEC_A_93
DEC_A_92
18th KPCC Session
DEC_R_87
DEC_R_86
DEC_A_83
17th KPCC Session
DEC_R_80
DEC_R_79
DEC_A_76
16th KPCC Session
DEC_R_72
DEC_R_71
DEC_C_74
DEC_A_69
15th KPCC Session
DEC_R_66
DEC_R_65
DEC_R_64
DEC_R_63
DEC_C_68
DEC_C_67
DEC_A_62
DEC_A_60
Decisions 2009
14th KPCC Session
DEC_R_58
DEC_R_57
DEC_A_56
DEC_A_55
13th KPCC Session
DEC_R_54
DEC_R_53
DEC_A_52
DEC_A_51
12ve KPCC Session
DEC_R_47
DEC_R_46
DEC_A_45
DEC_A_44
DEC_A_43
DEC_A_42
11th KPCC Session
DEC_R_38
DEC_C_40
DEC_A_37
DEC_A_36
Decisions 2008
10th KPCC Session
DEC_R_33
DEC_R_32
DEC_A_31
DEC_A_30
DEC_A_29
9th KPCC Session
DEC_R_27
DEC_R_26
DEC_A_28
DEC_A_25
8th KPCC Session
DEC_R_24
DEC_R_23
DEC_A_22
7th KPCC Session
DEC_R_21
DEC_R_20
DEC_A_19
6th KPCC Session
DEC_R_18
DEC_R_16
DEC_R_15
DEC_C_14
DEC_A_17
DEC_A_13
5th KPCC Session
DEC_R_12
DEC_R_11
DEC_C_10
DEC_C_9
DEC_A_8
Decisions 2007
4th KPCC Session
DEC_R_7
DEC_R_6
DEC_A_5
3rd KPCC Session
DEC_C_4
DEC_A_3
2nd KPCC Session
DEC_A_2
1st KPCC Session
DEC_A_1
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