The Parties to the present Agreement,

Convinced of the need for a peaceful and political solution in Kosovo as a prerequisite for stability and democracy,

Determined to establish a peaceful environment in Kosovo,

Reaffirming their commitment to the Purposes and Principles of the United Nations, as well as to OSCE principles, including the Helsinki Final Act and the Charter of Paris for a new Europe,

Recalling the commitment of the international community to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia,

Recalling the basic elements/principles adopted by the Contact Group at its ministerial meeting in London on January 29, 1999,

Recognizing the need for democratic self-government in Kosovo, including full participation of the members of all national communities in political decision-making,

Desiring to ensure the protection of the human rights of all persons in Kosovo, as well as the rights of the members of all national communities,

Recognizing the ongoing contribution of the OSCE to peace and stability in Kosovo,

Noting that the present Agreement has been concluded under the auspices of the members of the Contact Group and the European Union and undertaking with respect to these members and the European Union to abide by this Agreement,

Aware that full respect for the present Agreement will be central for the development of relations with European institutions, Have agreed as follows:

Framework

Article I: Principles

1. All citizens in Kosovo shall enjoy, without discrimination, the equal rights and freedoms set forth in this Agreement.

2. National communities and their members shall have additional rights specified in Chapter 1. Kosovo, Federal, and Republic authorities shall not interfere with the exercise of these additional rights. The national communities shall be legally equal as specified herein, and shall not use their additional rights to endanger the rights of other national communities or the rights of citizens, the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, or the functioning of representative democratic government in Kosovo.

3. All authorities in Kosovo shall fully respect human rights, democracy, and the equality of citizens and national communities.

4. Citizens in Kosovo shall have the right to democratic self-government through legislative, executive, judicial, and other institutions established in accordance with this Agreement. They shall have the opportunity to be represented in all institutions in Kosovo. The right to democratic self-government shall include the right to participate in free and fair elections.

5. Every person in Kosovo may have access to international institutions for the protection of their rights in accordance with the procedures of such institutions.

6. The Parties accept that they will act only within their powers and responsibilities in Kosovo as specified by this Agreement. Acts outside those powers and responsibilities shall be null and void. Kosovo shall have all rights and powers set forth herein, including in particular as specified in the Constitution at Chapter 1. This Agreement shall prevail over any other legal provisions of the Parties and shall be directly applicable. The Parties shall harmonize their governing practices and documents with this Agreement.

7. The Parties agree to cooperate fully with all international organizations working in Kosovo on the implementation of this Agreement.

Article II: Confidence-Building Measures

End of Use of Force

1. Use of force in Kosovo shall cease immediately. In accordance with this Agreement, alleged violations of the cease-fire shall be reported to international observers and shall not be used to justify use of force in response.

2. The status of police and security forces in Kosovo, including withdrawal of forces, shall be governed by the terms of this Agreement. Paramilitary and irregular forces in Kosovo are incompatible with the terms of this Agreement.

Return

3. The Parties recognize that all persons have the right to return to their homes. Appropriate authorities shall take all measures necessary to facilitate the safe return of persons, including issuing necessary documents. All persons shall have the right to reoccupy their real property, assert their occupancy rights in state-owned property, and recover their other property and personal possessions. The Parties shall take all measures necessary to readmit returning persons to Kosovo.

4. The Parties shall cooperate fully with all efforts by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees , (UNHCR) and other international and non-governmental organizations concerning the repatriation and return of persons, including those organizations, monitoring of the treatment of persons following their return.

Access for International Assistance

5. There shall be no impediments to the normal flow of goods into Kosovo, including materials for the reconstruction of homes and structures. The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia shall not require visas, customs, or licensing for persons or things for the Implementation Mission (IM), the UNHCR, and other international organizations, as well as for non- governmental organizations working in Kosovo as determined by the Chief of the Implementation Mission (CIM).

6. All staff, whether national or international, working with international or non-governmental organizations including with the Yugoslav Red Cross, shall be allowed unrestricted access to the Kosovo population for purposes of international assistance. All persons in Kosovo shall similarly have safe, unhindered, and direct access to the staff of such organizations.

Other Issues

7. Federal organs shall not take any decisions that have a differential, disproportionate, injurious, or discriminatory effect on Kosovo. Such decisions, if any, shall be void with regard to Kosovo.

8. Martial law shall not be declared in Kosovo. 9. The Parties shall immediately comply with all requests for support from the implementation Mission (IM). The IM shall have its own broadcast frequencies for radio and television programming in Kosovo. The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia shall provide all necessary facilities, including frequencies for radio communications, to all humanitarian organizations responsible for delivering aid in Kosovo.

Detention of Combatants and Justice Issues

10. All abducted persons or other persons held without charge shall be released. The Parties shall also release and transfer in accordance with this Agreement all persons held in connection with the conflict. The Parties shall cooperate fully with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to facilitate its work in accordance with its mandate, including ensuring full access to all such persons, irrespective of their status, wherever they might be held, for visits in accordance with the ICRC's standard operating procedures.

11. The Parties shall provide information, through tracing mechanisms of the ICRC, to families of all persons who are unaccounted for. The Parties shall cooperate fully with the ICRC and the International Commission on Missing Persons in their efforts to determine the identity, whereabouts, and fate of those unaccounted for.

12. Each Party:

(a) shall not prosecute anyone for crimes related to the conflict in Kosovo, except for persons accused of having committed serious violations of international humanitarian law. In order to facilitate transparency, the Parties shall grant access to foreign experts (including forensics experts) along with state investigators;

(b) shall grant a general amnesty for all persons already convicted of committing politically motivated crimes related to the conflict in Kosovo. This amnesty shall not apply to those properly convicted of committing serious violations of international humanitarian law at a fair and open trial conducted pursuant to international standards.

13. All Parties shall comply with their obligation to cooperate in the investigation and prosecution of serious violations of international humanitarian law.

(a) As required by United Nations Security Council resolution 827 (1993) and subsequent resolutions, the Parties shall fully cooperate with the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in its investigations and prosecutions, including complying with its requests for assistance and its orders.

(b) The Parties shall also allow complete, unimpeded, and unfettered access to international experts- including forensics experts and investigators-to investigate allegations of serious violations of international humanitarian law.

Independent Media

14. Recognizing the importance of free and independent media for the development of a democratic political climate necessary for the reconstruction and development of Kosovo, the Parties shall ensure the widest possible press freedoms in Kosovo in all media, public and private, including print, television, radio, and Internet.

Chapter1
Constitution

Affirming their belief in a peaceful society, justice, tolerance, and reconciliation,

Resolved to ensure respect for human rights and the equality of all citizens and national communities,

Recognizing that the preservation and promotion of the national, cultural, and linguistic identity of each national community in Kosovo are necessary for the harmonious development of a peaceful society,

Desiring through this interim Constitution to establish institutions of democratic self-government in Kosovo grounded in respect for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and from this Agreement, from which the authorities of governance set forth herein originate,

Recognizing that the institutions of Kosovo should fairly represent the national communities in Kosovo and foster the exercise of their rights and those of their members,

Recalling and endorsing the principles/basic elements adopted by the Contact Group at its ministerial meeting in London on January 29, 1999,

Article I: Principles of Democratic Self-Government in Kosovo

1. Kosovo shall govern itself democratically through the legislative, executive, judicial, and other organs and institutions specified herein. Organs and institutions of Kosovo shall exercise their authorities consistent with the terms of this Agreement.

2. All authorities in Kosovo shall fully respect human rights, democracy, and the equality of citizens and national communities.

3. The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia has competence in Kosovo over the following areas, except as specified elsewhere in this Agreement:

(a) territorial integrity,

(b) maintaining a common market within the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, which power shall be exercised in a manner that does not discriminate against Kosovo,

(c) monetary policy, (d) defense, (e) foreign policy,

(f) customs services, (g) federal taxation, (h) federal elections, and (i) other areas specified in this Agreement.

4. The Republic of Serbia shall have competence in Kosovo as specified in this Agreement, including in relation to Republic elections.

5. Citizens in Kosovo-may continue to participate in areas in which the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the Republic of Serbia have competence through their representation in relevant institutions, without prejudice to the exercise of competence by Kosovo authorities set forth in this Agreement.

6. With respect to Kosovo:

(a) There shall be no changes to the borders of Kosovo;

(b) Deployment and use of police and security forces shall be governed by Chapters 2 and 7 of this Agreement; and

(c) Kosovo shall have authority to conduct foreign relations within its areas of responsibility equivalent to the power provided to Republics under Article 7 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

7. There shall be no interference with the right of citizens and national communities in Kosovo to call upon appropriate institutions of the Republic of Serbia for the following purposes:

(a) assistance in designing school curricula and standards;

(b) participation in social benefits programs, such as care for war veterans, pensioners, and disabled persons; and

(c) other voluntarily received services, provided that these services are not related to police and security matters governed by Chapters 2 and 7 of this Agreement, and that any Republic personnel serving in Kosovo pursuant to this paragraph shall be unarmed service providers acting at the invitation of a national community in Kosovo.

The Republic shall have the authority to levy taxes or charges on those citizens requesting services pursuant to this paragraph, as necessary to support the provision of such services.

8.The basic territorial unit of local self-government in Kosovo shall be the commune. All responsibilities in

Kosovo not expressly assigned elsewhere shall be the responsibility of the communes.

9.To preserve and promote democratic self-government in Kosovo, all candidates for appointed, elective, or other public office, and all office holders, shall meet the following criteria:

(a) No person who is serving a sentence imposed by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, and no person who is under indictment by the Tribunal and who has failed to comply with an order to appear before the Tribunal, may stand as a candidate or hold any office; and

(b) All candidates and office holders shall renounce violence as a mechanism for achieving political goals; past political or resistance activities shall not be a bar to holding office in Kosovo.

Article II: The Assembly General

1. Kosovo shall have an Assembly, which shall be comprised of 120 Members.

(a) Eighty members shall be directly elected.

(b) A further 40 Members shall be elected by the members of qualifying national communities.

(i) Communities whose members constitute more than 0.5 per cent of the Kosovo population but less than 5 per cent shall have ten of these seats, to be divided among them in accordance with their proportion of the overall population.

(ii) communities whose members constitute more than 5 per cent of the Kosovo population shall divide the remaining thirty seats equally. The Serb and Albanian national communities shall be presumed to meet the 5 per cent population threshold.

Other Provisions

2. Elections for all Members shall be conducted democratically, consistent with the provisions of Chapter 3 of this Agreement. Members shall be elected for a term of three years.

3. Allocation of seats in the Assembly shall be based on data gathered in the census referred to in Chapter 5 of this Agreement. Prior to the completion of the census, for purposes of this Article declarations of national community membership made during voter registration shall be used to determine the percentage of the Kosovo population that each national community represents.

4. Members of the Assembly shall be immune from all civil or criminal proceedings on the basis of words expressed or other acts performed in their capacity as Members of the Assembly.

Powers of the Assembly

5. The Assembly shall be responsible for enacting laws of Kosovo, including in political, security, economic, social, educational, scientific, and cultural areas as set out below and elsewhere in this Agreement. This Constitution and the laws of the Kosovo Assembly shall not be subject to change or modification by authorities of the Republics or the Federation.

(a) The Assembly shall be responsible for:

(i) Financing activities of Kosovo institutions, including by levying taxes and duties on sources within Kosovo;

(ii) Adopting budgets of the Administrative organs and other institutions of Kosovo, with the exception of communal and national community institutions unless otherwise specified herein;

(iii) Adopting regulations concerning the organization and procedures of the Administrative organs of Kosovo;

(iv) Approving the list of Ministers of the Government, including the Prime minister;

(v) Coordinating educational arrangements in Kosovo, with respect for the authorities of national communities and Communes;

(vi) Electing candidates for judicial office put forward by the President of Kosovo;

(vii) Enacting laws ensuring free movement of goods, services, and persons in Kosovo consistent with this Agreement;

(viii) Approving agreements concluded by the President within the areas of responsibility of Kosovo;

(ix) Cooperating with the Federal Assembly, and with the Assemblies of the Republics, and conducting relations with foreign legislative bodies;

(x) Establishing a framework for local self-government;

(xi) Enacting laws concerning inter-communal issues and relations between national communities, when necessary;

(xii) Enacting laws regulating the work of medical institutions and hospitals;

(xiii) Protecting the environment, where inter-communal issues are involved;

(xiv) Adopting programs of economic, scientific, technological, demographic, regional, and social development, as well as urban planning;

(xv) Adopting programs for the development of agriculture and of rural areas;

(xvi) Regulating elections consistent with Chapters 3 and 5;

(xvii) Regulating Kosovo-owned property; and

(xviii) Regulating land registries.

(b) The Assembly shall also have authority to enact laws in areas within the responsibility of the Communes if the matter cannot be effectively regulated by the Communes or if regulation by individual Communes might prejudice the rights of other Communes. In the absence of a law enacted by the Assembly under this subparagraph that preempts communal action, the Communes shall retain their authority.

Procedure

6. Laws and other decisions of the Assembly shall be adopted by majority of Members present and voting.

7. A majority of the Members of a single national community elected to the Assembly pursuant to paragraph 1(b) may adopt a motion that a law or other decision adversely affects the vital interests of their national community. The challenged law or decision shall be suspended with regard to that national community until the dispute settlement procedure in paragraph 8 is completed.

8. The following procedure shall be used in the event of a motion under paragraph 7:

(a) The Members making the vital interest motion shall give reasons for their motion. The proposers of the legislation shall be given an opportunity to respond.

(b) The Members making the motion shall appoint within one day a mediator of their choice to assist in reaching an agreement with those proposing the legislation.

(c) If mediation-does not produce an agreement within seven days, the matter may be submitted for a binding ruling. The decision shall be rendered by a panel comprising three Members of the Assembly: one Albanian and one Serb, each appointed by his or her national community delegation; and a third Member, who will be of a third nationality and will be selected within two days by consensus of the Presidency of the Assembly.

(i) A vital interest motion shall be upheld if the legislation challenged adversely affects the community's fundamental constitutional rights, additional rights as set forth in Article VII, or the principle of fair treatment.

(ii) If the motion is not upheld, the challenged legislation shall enter into force for that community.

(d) Paragraph (c) shall not apply to the selection of Assembly officials.

(e) The Assembly may exclude other decisions from this procedure by means of a law enacted by a majority that includes a majority of each national community elected pursuant to paragraph 1(b).

9. A majority of the Members shall constitute a quorum.

The Assembly shall otherwise decide its own rules of procedure.

Leadership

10. The Assembly shall elect from among its Members a Presidency, which shall consist of a President, two Vice-Presidents, and other leaders in accordance with the Assembly's rules of procedure. Each national community meeting the threshold specified in paragraph 1(b)(ii) shall, be represented in the leadership. The President of the Assembly shall not be from the same national community as the President of Kosovo.

11. The President of the Assembly shall represent it, call its sessions to order, chair its meetings, coordinate the work of any committees it may establish, and perform other tasks prescribed by the rules of procedure of the Assembly.