Prosecuting ‘heroes’: the contribution of the Kosovo Specialist Chambers to the national transitional justice strategy

Abstract

This thesis examines whether hybrid courts can achieve the goals of transitional justice, using the case of the Kosovo Specialist Chambers (KSC) and the Kosovo Transitional Justice Strategy 2024-2034 and how they interact. This research first reviews the main mechanisms of transitional justice and the recurring tensions between international involvement and local ownership, particularly in hybrid courts. It then traces Kosovo’s transitional justice process from 1999 to the creation of the KSC, and examines the KSC’s governance and the main criticisms it has faced. It then analyses the Strategy, before assessing the KSC’s actual contribution to each of its four pillars: truth, justice, victim support, and non-recurrence. While this research finds that the KSC has achieved an important goal holding senior KLA figures accountable, it also acknowledges that it operates largely in parallel to Kosovo’s domestic transitional justice institutions, with no real coordination between them. This reflects a broader pattern in how the international community has engaged with Kosovo since 1999, intervening to deliver justice without truly engaging with local institutions and focusing on building strong foundations for sustainable reconciliation between communities. Without this coordination, the two processes will keep operating in parallel rather than reinforcing one another.