Eulex's Performance of Its Executive Judicial Functions
91 Pages Posted: 9 Feb 2015 Last revised: 16 Feb 2015
Date Written: February 15, 2015
Abstract
The paper reviews the performance of the largest mission ever deployed by the European Union. Named ‘EULEX Kosovo’ (Eulex), it was deployed after Kosovo declared independence, in 2008, and its mandate will soon be extended to June 2016. At its peak, Eulex employed three times as many officials as the 11 other EU civilian missions combined. Eulex is often characterized as the ‘flagship’ of the Common Security and Defence Policy of the EU. Thus far, Eulex’s performance has been unsatisfactory. In October 2012 the European Court of Auditors published a rather critical report on the mission’s performance of its advisory functions. This paper reviews the performance of its executive judicial and police functions, reaching more negative conclusions. When acting in this capacity, Eulex enforces the law upon Kosovo’s citizens in lieu of the domestic police and judicial authorities: it issues judgements, conducts trials and investigations, and arrests suspects.
Keywords: State-building, rule of law, EU foreign policy, Kosovo, Eulex
JEL Classification: O17, O19, P30, P33, K42
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation