Live update

On 8 July 2026, Single Trial Judge Christopher Gosnell issued a new order on the further conduct of proceedings in the case against Thaçi, Smakaj, Kilaj, Fazliu and Kuçi.

Following the admission of the expert evidence of Witness 8 (Koen Herlaar), pursuant to the earlier decision of the Court of Appeals Panel, Judge Gosnell instructed the Defence to notify the Court by 15 July 2026 whether it intends to present any additional evidence responsive to Witness 8's testimony.

Should the Defence not seek to present any additional evidence, the Single Trial Judge indicated that he intends to close the evidentiary proceedings on 16 July 2026 and invite the Parties to file their final trial briefs and reply briefs by 22 July and 5 August 2026, respectively.

More details are available in the Single Trial Judge's order.
 

Following the assignment of a Constitutional Court Panel last week, on 3 July 2026 the Panel partially granted  Pjetër Shala’s request for an extension of time to file a referral. The Panel extended the time limit for filing the referral until 15 September 2026.

On 2 July 2026, President Trendafilova assigned a Constitutional Court Panel to consider the Defence request by Pjetër Shala for an extension of time, until 2 October 2026, to file a referral, following the Supreme Court decision of 25 June 2026. Judges Vidar Stensland, Roumen Nenkov and Piotr Hofmański will decide on this request and any related filings in this matter. 

Please note that another referral by Pjetër Shala is currently pending before the same Constitutional Court Panel, as announced previously.

The transcript of the KSC Weekly Press Briefing on 02/07/2026 is now available.

On 1 July 2026, Trial Panel II issued a public redacted version of an order reminding Hashim Thaçi to comply with the modified detention conditions imposed on 1 December 2023, and subsequently amended, as well as the relevant detention rules and regulations. The Panel also directed Thaçi's Counsel to remind him of those obligations.

The order follows the Registrar’s latest report concerning a number of incidents found to constitute breaches of the modified detention conditions and related detention rules. The Panel found that Thaçi had displayed a repeated pattern of non-compliance and indicated that it would consider stricter measures should any further violations occur.

More details are available in the full order in the KSC Public Court Records.

The Trial Panel in the Thaçi et al. case on war crimes and crimes against humanity has scheduled the public pronouncement of the judgment to take place on 16 September 2026 at 10:00.  The Panel explained that, in accordance with the Rules, it had considered a further extension absolutely necessary, due to the complexity of the case and the amount of evidence the Panel has to take into consideration. 
The Panel received the evidence of approximately 270 witnesses (orally and in writing), admitted 5,467 exhibits into evidence and the transcript of the proceedings extends to 29,238 pages in length.
The Panel considered the extension justified by the need to ensure a fair, comprehensive and reasoned assessment of the evidentiary record and by the requirement of a reasoned opinion in writing that accurately reflects that record.

On 30 June 2026, the Court of Appeals Panel partially granted the SPO's appeal against the Single Trial Judge's decision excluding the expert evidence of Koen Herlaar (Witness 8) and remanded the matter to the Single Trial Judge for a new determination. Following that decision, on 1 July 2026, Single Trial Judge Christopher Gosnell invited the parties to file additional submissions in light of the Appeals Panel decision by 6 July 2026.

The Judge also vacated the previously established deadlines for the filing of the parties' final trial briefs and any related deadlines. A further scheduling order will be issued after the Single Trial Judge decides on the admissibility of Witness 8's evidence, as directed by the Appeals Panel.

Public redacted versions of two decisions concerning Fadil Fazliu’s requests for temporary variations of his release conditions were filed on 29 and 30 June 2026.

In the first decision, originally issued on 31 March 2026, Single Trial Judge Christopher Gosnell granted the Fazliu Defence request to temporarily vary one of the conditions of release, allowing Fazliu to travel abroad between 2 and 6 April 2026 to visit a seriously ill close family member. The Judge found that the requested travel would not significantly alter the assessment of the risks identified at the time of Fazliu’s provisional release and that sufficient cause for the requested variation had been shown. 

In the second decision, originally issued on 19 June 2026, the Judge denied a request by the Fazliu Defence to allow Fazliu to travel to Montenegro from 25 -28 June to attend a family event. The Judge found that no good cause had been established to justify a variation of the existing release conditions and that no compelling humanitarian grounds or other significant change of circumstances had been shown.

On 25 June 2026, the Supreme Court Panel, consisting of Judges Ekaterina Trendafilova (Presiding), Christine van den Wyngaert and Daniel Fransen, rejected Pjetër Shala’s request for protection of legality in its entirety. The request alleged several violations concerning the Appeals Panel decision denying the Defence appeal against the Reparation Order, issued on 29 January 2026.
Before issuing the present decision, the Victims’ Counsel filed a response to the request on 26 May 2026. The Defence subsequently filed its reply on 10 June 2026, following an extension of time granted by the Panel.

The transcript of the KSC Weekly Press Briefing on 25/06/2026 is now available.