Cadastral Records (Technical Dialogue Agreement)

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Country/entity: Kosovo
Serbia
Yugoslavia (former)
Region: Europe and Eurasia
Agreement name: Cadastral Records (Technical Dialogue Agreement)
Date: 2 Sep 2011
Agreement status: Multiparty signed/agreed
Interim arrangement: Yes
Agreement/conflict level: Interstate/intrastate conflict(s)
Balkan Conflicts (1991 - 1995) (1998 - 2001)
Former Yugoslavia

The disintegration of former Yugoslavia post cold war saw conflicts which became mediated and produced peace agreements in Slovenia (where the brief independence conflict was mediated by the EC Troika in 1991), Croatia (between Croatian and Serb populations 1991-1995), in Bosnia (between Croatian, Serb and Bosniak populations 1992-1995), in Macedonia (where mediation played a key pre-emptive role in preventing large scale conflict in 2001), in Kosovo (between Kosovar Albanians and Serbian population and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY), but also between FRY and NATO, 1998-1999), and a conflict in the Presevo Valley (between Albanians in South Serbia and FRY, 2000-2001). The continued fall-out of the disintegration of former Yugoslavia also saw mediated agreement and ultimate dissolution of the Union between Serbia and Montenegro.

Bosnia-Herzegovina

In 1991, after nationalist parties won the first multi-party elections in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, a violent process of disintegration commenced. With its mixed population, Bosnia-Herzegovina became the centre of the following civil war that began in 1992 between the newly formed army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (mostly Muslim Bosniacs), and the parastatal forces of self-declared Bosnian Croat (Herzeg-Bosnia) and Bosnian Serb (Republika Srpska) entities within Bosnia-Herzegovina, supported by Croatia and Serbia, with various, often short-lived, coalitions. The General Framework Agreement (Dayton Peace Agreement), signed in 1995, split the country into two ethno-federal entities, the Bosniak-Croat Federation and the Republika Srpska, and included continued peacekeeping and institutional administration by international actors.

Kosovo

The conflict between Serbs and Kosovar Albanians has a long history and always involved territorial disputes as well as ethno-political, cultural and linguistic factors. The most recent phase of the conflict began in November 1997 when the Albanian Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA or UCK) began their campaign for the independence of Kosovo from the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY – then Serbia and Montenegro). The subsequent war lasted until the NATO intervention, which undertook bombing campaigns of Belgrade and other places in Serbia during spring 1999. The main agreements solving the conflict were internationally driven and, finally, a UNSC resolution imposed a post-conflict arrangement in the wake of what was essentially a NATO military victory. In February 2008, Kosovo’s parliament declared independence, but independence is still internationally disputed.
Stage: Framework/substantive - partial
Conflict nature: Government/territory
Peace process: Kosovo-Serbia Normalisation Process
Parties: Agreement unsigned, parties believed to be the Kosovo delegation, led by Dr. Edita Tahiri and the Serbian delegation led by Mr. Borko Stefanovic.
Third parties: Agreement unsigned, meeting was chaired by the EU facilitator, Mr. Robert Cooper.
Description: Short agreement in which the parties agree to make every effort to establish a fully reliable cadastre in Kosovo, in order to protect the rights of people with legitimate claims to property. It provides for forming a tripartite implementation group and technical agency in order to identify gaps in original pre-1999 cadastral records, and also sets out the modalities for resolving disputes.

Agreement document: KV_110902_Cadastral Records (Technical Dialogue Agreement).pdf (opens in new tab) | Download PDF

Groups

Children/youth: No specific mention.
Disabled persons: No specific mention.
Elderly/age: No specific mention.
Migrant workers: No specific mention.
Racial/ethnic/national group: No specific mention.
Religious groups: No specific mention.
Indigenous people: No specific mention.
Other groups: No specific mention.
Refugees/displaced persons: No specific mention.
Social class: No specific mention.

Gender

Women, girls and gender: No specific mention.
Men and boys: No specific mention.
LGBTI: No specific mention.
Family: No specific mention.

State definition

Nature of state (general): No specific mention.
State configuration: No specific mention.
Self determination: No specific mention.
Referendum: No specific mention.
State symbols: No specific mention.
Independence/secession: No specific mention.
Accession/unification: No specific mention.
Border delimitation: No specific mention.
Cross-border provision: No specific mention.

Governance

Political institutions (new or reformed): No specific mention.
Elections: No specific mention.
Electoral commission: No specific mention.
Political parties reform: No specific mention.
Civil society: No specific mention.
Traditional/religious leaders: No specific mention.
Public administration: No specific mention.
Constitution: No specific mention.

Power sharing

Political power sharing: Power sharing→Political power sharing→General
State level
Page 1, 1. The solution to the Libya crisis can only be a political one and requires a national reconciliation process involving all Libyans, including the institutional, security and military actors who are prepared to participate peacefully, with the safe return of displaced persons and refugees and the creation of a transitional justice, reparation and national amnesty process as well as the implementation of Article 34 [Note: touches on a ceasefire, DDR, terrorism, withdrawal of forces and implementation] on security arrangements of the Libyan Political Agreement.
Power sharing→Political power sharing→International involvement
State level
Page 1, 5. The first instance in the adjudication mechanism will be undertaken by a Commission consisting of International and cadastral and property experts from Kosovo. The majority of the experts will be appointed by the EUSR, taking into account the interests of all communities concerned.

Page 1, 6. The Kosovo Supreme Court will act as the second, appeal, instance of this adjudication mechanism. Decisions by the Kosovo Supreme Court will be taken by a panel in which international judges will hold the majority and will be final and enforceable and not subject to challenge.
Territorial power sharing: No specific mention.
Economic power sharing: No specific mention.
Military power sharing: No specific mention.

Human rights and equality

Human rights/RoL general: No specific mention.
Bill of rights/similar: No specific mention.
Treaty incorporation: No specific mention.
Civil and political rights: No specific mention.
Socio-economic rights: No specific mention.

Rights related issues

Citizenship: No specific mention.
Democracy: No specific mention.
Detention procedures: No specific mention.
Media and communication: No specific mention.
Mobility/access: No specific mention.
Protection measures: No specific mention.
Other: No specific mention.

Rights institutions

NHRI: No specific mention.
Regional or international human rights institutions: No specific mention.

Justice sector reform

Criminal justice and emergency law: No specific mention.
State of emergency provisions: No specific mention.
Judiciary and courts: No specific mention.
Prisons and detention: No specific mention.
Traditional Laws: No specific mention.

Socio-economic reconstruction

Development or socio-economic reconstruction: No specific mention.
National economic plan: No specific mention.
Natural resources: No specific mention.
International funds: No specific mention.
Business: No specific mention.
Taxation: No specific mention.
Banks: No specific mention.

Land, property and environment

Land reform/rights: Land, property and environment→Land reform/rights→Property return and restitution
Summary: The agreement in its entirety provides for identifying gaps in original pre-1999 cadastral record in order to establish a fully reliable cadastre in Kosovo.

Page 1, 1. In order to protect the rights of people with legitimate claims to property, the parties will jointly make every effort to establish a fully reliable cadastre in Kosovo.

Page 1, 2. A tripartite implementation group, consisting of cadastral experts from the two parties and chaired by the EU will monitor the work of a technical agency, (selected by the EU after consultation with both parties), whose role will be to identify gaps in original pre-1999 cadastral records.

Page 1, 3. The EUSR will receive scanned copies of all original pre-1999 cadastral records removed from Kosovo. Upon request, the EUSR will provide specific information from Kosovo.

Page 1, 4. The technical agency, mentioned in bullet 2, will compare all copies of the original pre-1999 private property cadastral records^1 with the reconstructed Kosovo cadastre. Cases where the comparison shows the records not to be the same will be transferred by the tripartite implementation group to an adjudication mechanism in Kosovo. This adjudication mechanism will make a final determination as to which cadastral record is correct.^1 This will include private property, private commercial property and private church property cadastral records.

Page 1, 5. The first instance in the adjudication mechanism will be undertaken by a Commission consisting of International and cadastral and property experts from Kosovo. The majority of the experts will be appointed by the EUSR, taking into account the interests of all communities concerned.

Page 1, 6. The Kosovo Supreme Court will act as the second, appeal, instance of this adjudication mechanism. Decisions by the Kosovo Supreme Court will be taken by a panel in which international judges will hold the majority and will be final and enforceable and not subject to challenge.

Page 1, 7. Decisions resulting from above adjudication mechanism will be notified to all stakeholders concerned. The Kosovo Cadastre Agency will implement the final decision resulting from above adjudication mechanism by effecting the necessary changes in the Kosovo cadastre.

Page 1, 8. The tripartite implementation group will monitor the quick implementation and functioning of the above arrangements and will regularly brief the Dialogue on progress_
Pastoralist/nomadism rights: No specific mention.
Cultural heritage: No specific mention.
Environment: No specific mention.
Water or riparian rights or access: No specific mention.

Security sector

Security Guarantees: No specific mention.
Ceasefire: No specific mention.
Police: No specific mention.
Armed forces: No specific mention.
DDR: No specific mention.
Intelligence services: No specific mention.
Parastatal/rebel and opposition group forces: No specific mention.
Withdrawal of foreign forces: No specific mention.
Corruption: No specific mention.
Crime/organised crime: No specific mention.
Drugs: No specific mention.
Terrorism: No specific mention.

Transitional justice

Transitional justice general: No specific mention.
Amnesty/pardon: No specific mention.
Courts: No specific mention.
Mechanism: No specific mention.
Prisoner release: No specific mention.
Vetting: No specific mention.
Victims: No specific mention.
Missing persons: No specific mention.
Reparations: No specific mention.
Reconciliation: No specific mention.

Implementation

UN signatory: No specific mention.
Other international signatory: No specific mention.
Referendum for agreement: No specific mention.
International mission/force/similar: No specific mention.
Enforcement mechanism: No specific mention.
Related cases: No specific mention.
Source: Government of the Republic of Serbia, Negotiation process with Pristina
http://www.kim.gov.rs/eng/pregovaracki-proces.php

Cadastral records

1. In order to protect the rights of people with legitimate claims to property, the parties will jointly make every effort to establish a fully reliable cadastre in Kosovo.

2. A tripartite implementation group, consisting of cadastral experts from the two parties and chaired by the EU will monitor the work of a technical agency, (selected by the EU after consultation with both parties), whose role will be to identify gaps in original pre-1999 cadastral records.

3. The EUSR will receive scanned copies of all original pre-1999 cadastral records removed from Kosovo.

Upon request, the EUSR will provide specific information from Kosovo.

4. The technical agency, mentioned in bullet 2, will compare all copies of the original pre-1999 private property cadastral records^1 with the reconstructed Kosovo cadastre.

Cases where the comparison shows the records not to be the same will be transferred by the tripartite implementation group to an adjudication mechanism in Kosovo.

This adjudication mechanism will make a final determination as to which cadastral record is correct.

5. The first instance in the adjudication mechanism will be undertaken by a Commission consisting of International and cadastral and property experts from Kosovo.

The majority of the experts will be appointed by the EUSR, taking into account the interests of all communities concerned.

6. The Kosovo Supreme Court will act as the second, appeal, instance of this adjudication mechanism.

Decisions by the Kosovo Supreme Court will be taken by a panel in which international judges will hold the majority and will be final and enforceable and not subject to challenge.

7. Decisions resulting from above adjudication mechanism will be notified to all stakeholders concerned.

The Kosovo Cadastre Agency will implement the final decision resulting from above adjudication mechanism by effecting the necessary changes in the Kosovo cadastre.

8. The tripartite implementation group will monitor the quick implementation and functioning of the above arrangements and will regularly brief the Dialogue on progress.

^1 This will include private property, private commercial property and private church property cadastral records.

Source:

Government of the Republic of Serbia, Office for Kosovo and Metohija http://www.kim.gov.rs/eng/pregovaracki-proces.php