Forced Sterilization According to the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kosovo: Origin and Figure of the Criminal Offense

Abstract

Forced sterilization is a phenomenon that in many countries of the world has been applied as a method of reducing the number of sexual crimes, although in its beginnings, it was applied to people with mental illness, immigrants, those who belonged to another race, especially non-white people, and mostly to women and girls. Despite its pronounced expansion, forced sterilization is a completely unknown phenomenon in Kosovo. Even in the criminal legislation that was applied in Kosovo, there was no incriminated action. But, being under constant pressure of the need to adapt to international documents, the criminal code should have included this criminal offense, although the Constitution of the country provides that “the Republic of Kosovo respects international law” (Article 16, al.3) and that “legally binding norms of international law take precedence over the laws of the Republic of Kosovo” (Article 19, al.2). Therefore, this article will address the meaning, short story and crime – forced sterilization, including a comparative aspect with different countries of the world. Given the approach from several perspectives, the functional, teleological and comparative analysis of the legal Article received on the 18th of February, 2020. Article accepted on the 22nd of May, 2020. Conflict of Interest: The author declares no conflict of interest.