Kosovo Police continues to fail to properly handle domestic violence cases. A report by the Kosovo Police Institute (PIK) has highlighted many shortcomings that police officers make in handling these cases. Failure to assess the risk to victims, lack of functioning of the chain of command are some of the findings.
Six recommendations for handling cases of domestic violence, from the Police Inspectorate, have been addressed to some of the police stations in 8 municipalities of Kosovo.
This report highlights that there is still no functionalization of teams to handle cases of domestic violence, and also shows other shortcomings, such as a lack of proper assessment of the risk to the victim.
“Communication with the State Prosecutor continues to be preferred via telephone. This method of reporting should not exclude written reporting, which has recently begun to be practiced. Files have been encountered that do not have a notification report regarding the reasonable suspicion that a criminal offense has been committed… The assessment of the risk to victims has not been carried out in all cases, in some of them it has also not been carried out according to the standard form provided, which contains indicators on which the assessment is carried out.” – Kosovo Police Inspectorate Report
Even at the police station in Leposaviq, one of the stations inspected, according to the report, there is no officer trained to handle domestic violence cases. It is also mentioned that in a number of files, the chain of command approval criteria are missing and there are no "friendly rooms" for interviewing victims.
“The South (Prishtina), Drenas, Leposaviq, Zubin Potok, Partesh, Ranilug and Kamenica have “friendly rooms”, spaces that will provide a suitable environment for this sensitive category of victims of domestic violence cases. The North (Prishtina) does not have a “friendly room”, while Mamusha has allocated this space, but has not made it functional due to the lack of furniture and adaptation of the environment.” - Report of the Kosovo Police Inspectorate
This PIK report, which talks about the year 2024 and the current situation, has already been accepted by the Police, who said that they will treat the recommendations with priority.
"The Kosovo Police has officially received the inspection report from the Kosovo Police Inspectorate (KPI). After receiving the report, the necessary actions have been taken by drafting an Action Plan, which defines concrete measures and deadlines for addressing and implementing the KPI findings and recommendations. Regarding the structural organization, the Kosovo Police, based on its organizational structure, has operationalized investigative units for investigating domestic violence cases in police stations. However, the KPI recommendations will be treated with priority, with the aim of further strengthening human capacities and increasing efficiency in handling these cases. Regarding friendly rooms, the Kosovo Police has taken concrete actions over the years to make them functional in police stations. In those stations where there are currently no friendly rooms, special and appropriate spaces have been provided for handling domestic violence cases, until the friendly rooms are fully functional. The Kosovo Police has as an ongoing plan the functionalization of friendly rooms in all police facilities. Last year alone, five (5) friendly rooms were functionalized and equipped with inventory, of which two (2) were equipped with new inventory, while three (3) were functionalized as new friendly rooms.” – Kosovo Police
Among other things, the report states that there is a decrease in the presence of victim advocates and social work center employees. The Office of the Chief State Prosecutor has complained that there are only a small number of them, 31 in total.
“We inform you that the Office for Victims Protection has not officially received the PIK inspection report, therefore it has not been part of the inspection process nor of addressing the findings and recommendations of the report in question. Regarding the remarks regarding the presence of victim advocates, we clarify that this situation is mainly related to the limited number of victim advocates at the national level (a total of 31), in relation to the continuous increase in the number and complexity of cases handled. During the period January-December 2025, the Office for Victims Protection handled 3,020 cases, of which 2,704 were domestic violence cases. During this period, victim advocates have exercised legal representation of victims in accordance with Article 64 of the Kosovo Criminal Procedure Code, participating in 3,690 court hearings and 829 hearings at the Prosecutor’s Office. Also, at the national level there are addressed to the courts 1,190 requests for protective measures, 93 requests for compensation for damage and 173 requests for alimony, with a total value of 565,660.00 euros.”- Office of the Chief State Prosecutor
The inspection included several police stations in Pristina, Drenas, Kamenica, Partesh, Ranilugë, Mamushë, Leposaviq and Zubin Potok./Tv Dukagjini
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