The United Nations administration in Kosovo has sworn in nearly one-hundred-and-forty judges and prosecutors, as part of efforts to combat crime in the province.

The appointments were announced by the head of the UN administration, Bernard Kouchner, last month.

The package also included the re-introduction of Kosovo's pre-1989 laws, which were overturned when the Belgrade authorities ended the province's autonomy.

Many ethnic Albanian judges had recently refused to carry on working with the Yugoslav legislation.

Others had simply reverted to the pre-1989 laws, a move which prompted the resignation of several ethnic Serb judges.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service