Monday 21 August, 2023 17:30

Termination of the investigation against Driton Lajçi

On 18 August 2023, pursuant to Rule 47 of the Rules, the SPO filed a notification that the investigation against Driton Lajçi has been terminated. As can be seen in the public filings of this case, Driton Lajçi, former official of the Kosovo Ministry of Justice, became an SPO suspect in 2019 and this matter was connected to investigations and/or cases pertaining to core crimes falling within the jurisdiction of the Specialist Chambers. See below the chronology of the major developments in this case with hyperlinks to the filings, including the matters before the Specialist Chamber of the Constitutional Court (SCCC) and the KSC Ombudsperson:

2019: Driton Lajçi became a suspect and was, as such, summoned for an interview by the SPO.

Lajçi filed a referral before the SCCC alleging violation of his rights during the interview procedure with the SPO.

2020: The SCCC declared the referral inadmissible because he had not yet been criminally charged and, accordingly, his referral was declared premature.

2021: Single Judge denied the first application by Lajçi for an order directing the SPO to terminate the investigation against him. Later, the Court of Appeals rejected the Lajci’s appeal against that decision and agreed with the Single Judge’s finding that the investigation period did not contravene the “reasonable time” criterion under Rule 47 of the Rules;

Lajçi filed a complaint with the KSC Ombudsperson alleging, inter alia, that the SPO’s procedures and overall treatment of him interfered with his fundamental right to a fair trial but the KSC Ombudsperson concluded that he lacked jurisdiction to consider the complaint and accordingly rejected it.

2022 - 2023: Single Judge rejected the second application by Lajçi for an order directing the SPO to terminate the investigation against him. Lajçi filed an appeal against the decision but the Court of Appeals denied it and again agreed with the Single Judge’s finding that the investigation period did not contravene the “reasonable time” criterion under Rule 47 of the Rules;

SPO files notification that its investigation against Lajçi is over.