Publisher's Synopsis
In June 1999, following a 78 day-long NATO campaign, the United Nations was tasked to govern Kosovo through its Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK). UNMIK was given an unprecedented sweeping mandate to provide Kosovo with a "transitional administration, while establishing and overseeing the development of provisional democratic self-governing institutions to ensure conditions for a peaceful and normal life for all inhabitants in Kosovo." UNMIK's Department of Justice (DOJ) has made great strides in the area of prosecuting serious crime, including cases of corruption, terrorism, and war crimes. The DOJ has also continued the transition of responsibilities to local institutions, the Ministry of Justice, and the Kosovo Judicial Council, and it has established the Kosovo Special Prosecutors Office to enable local prosecutors to take on more serious cases in the future, including corruption, organized crime, and crimes against public office. The work of these courts, and the international efforts to maintain peace and security through justice in Kosovo, are the main subjects of this work.