The Kosovo Agency for Comparison and Verification of Property (AKKVP) was established with the approval by the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo on June 9, 2016 of Law 05/L-010 on the Kosovo Agency for Comparison and Verification of Property, which entered into force on November of 2016, amended and supplemented by Law 08/L-052, which entered into force on January 26, 2023. AKKP is an independent agency established under Article 142 of the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo, which has the mandate to accept , compare and through the Property Verification and Settlement Commission (KVVP) resolve the gaps and inconsistencies between the original cadastral documents received in Kosovo by the Serbian authorities before June 1999 and the current cadastral documents in the Republic of Kosovo, for the property of private real estate, including agricultural property and private commercial property, as well as the acceptance of claims of uncontested and legitimate property rights informally transferred between parties before March 24, 1999, the formal transfer of which is prohibited by discriminatory legislation or for which the documents required for registration in the cadastral system of Kosovo do not exist.

With the establishment of AKVP, KPA has ceased to exist. According to the Law on AKKPPA, in addition to the new mandate given, the Agency will be given all the powers of the PAK, including the budget, contractual obligations and physical assets. So, with the entry into force of the law, the Agency entered the transition phase and in this aspect it is worth noting that the Agency had long ago started various preparatory, planning and evaluation activities. So, the entry into force of the law has found the Agency prepared for the beginning of the implementation of its mandate, thus undertaking many actions both in terms of preparations for the implementation of the new mandate and also in the fulfillment of all obligations arising from the law the aforementioned. Some of these actions have been completed and some are still in progress. For all issues that depend on the Agency, we estimate that the activities for the transition process are being fulfilled as planned.

As a result of the talks between Kosovo and Serbia, an agreement was reached on the return of the displaced cadastral data which were taken by the Serbian authorities in 1999. An integral element of this Agreement was the establishment of an Agency which would implement the her. Thus, on June 9, 2016, the Assembly of Kosovo approved the law on the Kosovo Property Comparison and Verification Agency (AKVP). In the meantime, the Law, initiated by the “Serbian List” Parliamentary Group, was the subject of an appeal to the Constitutional Court of Kosovo. During the review period in the Court, the procedure of decreeing this law by the President and its entry into force was suspended. The Constitutional Court, with its decision dated October 25, 2016, declared the complaint inadmissible, paving the way for the decree of the law by the President and its entry into force in November 2016. The Government of Kosovo, following the recommendations of the Advocate of the People No. 551/2017, has initiated the amendment of the Law on the Agency and in the meeting held on 03.09.2018 with Decision 02/06 has approved the Law on the Amendment of the Law No. 05/L-010 on the Agency Kosovare for Comparison and Verification of Property, which was then processed in the Assembly and after approval entered into force on January 26, 2023.The mandate of AKKVP is of great importance which, among other things, will help the current cadastral register to be more complete and accurate. The total number of cadastral documents scanned and indexed in Serbia and expected to be returned is 4,037,264. All these cadastral documents for private property, private commercial property and private property of religious communities received from Serbia before June 1999 will be accepted, compared with the current cadastral documents in the Republic of Kosovo and through the KVVP, gaps and discrepancies will be resolved between these two sets of documents. With the approval of Law No. 08/L-052 for the amendment and completion of Law No. 05/L-010, for the Kosovo Agency for Property Comparison and Verification, the Agency’s powers have been expanded and it is responsible for accepting, registering and responding to requests, notifying the parties and processing requests for review by the Commission, for requests for legal recognition of informal property rights, uncontested and legitimate for immovable property, transferred between the parties through informal transactions before March 24, 1999, the formal transfer of which is prohibited by discriminatory legislation or for which the documents required for registration in the Kosovo cadastral system are not exist.

According to Law 05/L-010, AKKVP will also inherit the mandate of the Kosovo Property Agency (AKP). Consequently, AKKVP will have the mandate to, through the Commission for Property Claims (KKP), resolve ownership claims and claims related to rights of use (with the right of appeal to the Supreme Court of Kosovo) related to private immovable property, including agricultural and commercial property (these claims are related to the war in Kosovo, including circumstances that are directly related to it or are a consequence of it in the period between February 27, 1998 and June 20, 1999), which were previously submitted to the KPA. The mandate inherited by the PAK also includes the executive authority to implement the decisions of the PAK and in this regard, in addition to the decision, AKVP will also have in its mandate the executive authority to implement the decisions of the PAK and the Directorate for Property Affairs and Housing Authority (DÇPB) established by UNMIK Regulation 1999/23 (the closure of which coincided with the establishment of the PAK). Therefore, the AKVP has been given the mandate to implement the final decisions of the AKVP, the KKP, the Commission for Housing Property Claims (KPB) as well as the judgments of the Supreme Court’s Appellate Panel.The implementation of the requirements will be done through the legal means provided for, according to Article 12 of Law No. 08/L-052 on Amendment and Supplement to Law No. 05/L-010 for the Agency, including but not limited to the registration of KVVP decisions in the cadastral registers, placing property under the administration of the PAK, eviction, destruction of illegal structures and lease agreements. Also, before using the legal remedy of destroying illegal structures, it will be possible to use mediation as a means of implementing the decision. The PAK has inherited several tasks that were originally within the mandate of its predecessor, the Directorate for Property and Housing Affairs (DÇPB), established by UNMIK Regulation 1999/23. Such responsibilities include the implementation of the remaining decisions of the Commission for Property and Housing Claims (KKPB) that were pending implementation, and the management of properties under the administration of the Housing and Property Claims Commission. In exercising this aspect of its mandate, the PAK has been entrusted with the rights, obligations, responsibilities and powers of the DCPB. In addition, the physical assets of the DCPB have been transferred to the PAK and a number of its personnel have been reassigned to perform similar duties within the PAK.

The Supervisory Board consists of five members, three of its members are international and two local members, who are appointed according to the legislation in force. The Supervisory Board has been given the mandate to supervise the work of AKVP and to provide guidelines for the policies and general orientation of the Agency. However, it is clearly excluded from participating in the process by which KVVP and KKP make their decisions. The Director of the Executive Secretariat represents the Executive Secretariat before the Supervisory Board and the Executive Secretariat also provides administrative services to the Board. This includes: organizing Board meetings, distributing relevant documents and information and monitoring actions taken in relation to Board instructions, advice and guidance.

According to the Law, the Prime Minister proposes the five members of the Supervisory Board to be appointed by the Assembly of Kosovo. In accordance with the amendments to Law 04/L-115, the appointments made in accordance with the Constitution continue according to the terms and conditions defined in the appointment decision.

The Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo, in support of articles 65 and 142 of the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo, article 6, paragraphs 2 and 3 of Law no. 05/L-010 on the Kosovo Agency for Property Comparison and Verification, amended and supplemented by Law no. 08/L-52 on the completion and amendment of Law no. 05/L-010 on the AKCP, as well as articles 3 paragraph 1.4, 61 and 110 of the Rules of the Assembly, in the Plenary Session held with June 15 and July 27, 2023, at the proposal of the Prime Minister of Kosovo, after conducting the secret voting procedure, took the following decision:

For the appointment of two (2) members of the Supervisory Board of the Kosovo Agency for Property Comparison and Verification.

The new members of the Board are: