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Not all deaths that occur in Kosovo are registered within the time limit in the civil registry offices in the respective municipalities, say representatives of non-governmental organizations.
By law, the declaration of death must be made by an adult family member, with a medical report, within 30 days of death.
But, the delays in the declaration have made the Ministry of Finance, Labor and Transfers of Kosovo, last year alone, to pay about half a million euros for pensions of deceased persons.
According to the report of the National Audit Office, published this month, this ministry has paid 3,314 pensions after the death of the beneficiaries, in the amount of over 465 thousand euros.
Lawyers and representatives of non-governmental organizations say that in order to avoid delays in announcing deaths, the registration system between health institutions and municipal civil registration offices should be digitized.
Officials of the Ministry of Health in Kosovo did not answer the question of Radio Free Europe if they have an electronic system, where they register the dead in the hospital.
The University Clinical Center of Kosovo, meanwhile, says that if a person dies in any of the wards of this institution, the UCCK fills out some forms, which are also submitted to the Kosovo Agency of Statistics.
“The first page of the form is attached to the patient’s history, which remains in the relevant clinic. The second page is for KAS and the third page is for the respective municipality. These two pages of the form, after a period of time, KAS receives from the UCCK and sends one of them to the municipality, keeps the other for himself.
“Meanwhile, the fourth page, after the patient dies, together with the death certificate and the discharge form [nga spitali] belongs to the family “, explain from UCCK for REL, but without giving details if they have an electronic system where the dead are registered.
Radio Free Europe has contacted officials of the Municipality of Drenas, in the central part of Kosovo, who confirm that there is no common database between health institutions and municipal offices.
Lumnije Prenaj, head of the Civil Status Service in this municipality, says that the Main Family Medicine Center in Drenas does not electronically forward death cases to the Municipal Office for Civil Registration.
According to her, deaths are registered at the request of family members – physically in the municipality – and “in most cases late.”
According to the Law on Civil Status, every death that occurs in the territory of Kosovo must be registered by family members in the respective municipalities within 30 days, while for those that occur outside the territory, the deadline for registration is 60 days.
All deaths that occur in health institutions, but also at home, must be confirmed by the competent doctor, who issues the death certificate.
Afterwards, the family member must physically submit the request for registration of the deceased to the municipal offices, together with the certificate issued by the health institution, which confirms the death of the person.
If there is no such certificate, then the registration of death is done with two witnesses before the court, who were present at the time of the person’s death or during his funeral.
If the death is not reported within the deadline, family members can be fined from 50 to 100 euros.
Mentor Seferi, from the non-governmental organization Program for Civil Rights in Kosovo, says that the process of registration of death can not remain in the will of family members, but that the digitalization of the registration system is needed.
“Electronic communication between health institutions is necessary for this process,” he said.
Lawyer Hasim Krasniqi, who previously worked at the Civil Registration Agency, says that the problem in this aspect is natural deaths, which occur at home.
“In most cases, natural deaths that occur at home are not even confirmed by a doctor. There is a stalemate here. “And it is a practice of citizens who, without needing any documents, do not go to register the dead person”, says Krasniqi.
According to him, the Civil Registration Agency and municipalities should find “mandatory forms” to register deaths in time, but does not specify what they could be.
By law, when death occurs at home, persons present must call a physician to confirm it. All deaths must have the conclusion as to what was the cause of death of the person leaving the health institution.
After the registration in the respective municipalities, those data are used by the Civil Registration Agency, which functioned within the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Erdon Arifaj, Deputy Director of the Department of Civil Status in this agency, explains to REL how it works:
“The registration of deaths is done by the civil status officer within the system. It is a unique system. Those [të dhënat] are collected in the central register of citizens – a register that is administered by us. So, for all cases when the citizen declares death [e familjarit]”We have the information and we distribute it to the relevant institutions.”
This data is used every month by the Ministry of Finance, Labor and Transfers of Kosovo, which executes pension funds.
The value of the pension in Kosovo ranges from 100 euros – old age pensions – up to 264 euros, depending on the educational qualification.
By law, retirees must report to the Pensioners’ Office every six months to prove they are alive.
Skënder Asllani, deputy director of the Pensions Department at the Ministry of Finance, says that this institution operates based on data from the Civil Registration Agency.
“We have cases where the party dies after the 15th [të muajit]but we are obliged to transfer the means to him as long as he lives [në fillim të muajit] and that sounds like the ministry is wrong. “Every month, we receive data from the Civil Registration Agency”, says Asllani.
The report of the National Audit Office states that “the death of persons on the payroll causes irregular payments and damages the ministry’s budget.”
This office has recommended to the Ministry of Finance to analyze in detail the issue of payments and to consider the possibilities for their return, in case they are sent to the deceased beneficiaries.
“The return of funds is done voluntarily by the relatives of the deceased pensioner, who received a pension after the death of the pensioner. But, in cases when these funds are not returned voluntarily, court proceedings are initiated “, they say for REL from the information office of the Ministry of Finance.
According to her, from the “wrong” payments for people who died last year, so far over 151 thousand euros have been returned to the budget.
The Ministry of Finance says that the mistakes occurred because, since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, the Government of Kosovo, with a decision, has released all categories of pensioners to report every six months in the offices of pensioners.
In addition to payments for deceased persons, the Ministry of Finance has erroneously paid over 405 thousand euros for social assistance, pensions of veterans of the Kosovo Liberation Army and pensions of workers of the metallurgical plant “Trepça”, found the National Audit Office.
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