Constitutional Court

KI161/18, Applicant: Ejup Koci, constitutional review of Decision Rev. No. 105/2018 of the Supreme Court of Kosovo of 4 May 2018

KI161/18 Resolution on Inadmissibility, adopted on 6 June 2019, published on 23 July 2019

Keywords: individual referral, civil (contested) proceedings, right to a fair trial, out of time referral, inadmissible referral

The Applicant challenged before the Court the constitutionality of Decision Rev. No. 105/2018 of the Supreme Court of 22 June 2018, in conjunction with Decision Ac. No. 2176/2016 of the Court of Appeals of 7 February 2018, alleging violation of Articles 31 [Right to Fair and Impartial Trial], 32 [Right to Legal Remedies], 46 [Protection of Property], 54 [ Judicial Protection of Rights], 55 [Limitations on Fundamental Rights and Freedoms], and Article 6 [Right to a fair trial], as well as Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

The Court, after assessing the case in its entirety, concluded that his referral had to be declared inadmissible because in the Applicant’s case the “final decision” regarding the suspension of the proceedings due to the Applicant’s procedural legitimacy, within the meaning of Rule 39 (1) (c) of the Rules of Procedure, was considered Decision Ac. No. 2176/2018 of the Court of Appeals, and not Decision Rev. No. 105/2018 of the Supreme Court. In this regard, the decision of the Court of Appeals was rendered on 7 February 2018, which means that more than four (four) months had passed since it was served on him, namely, after the deadline required by Article 49 of the Law and Rule 39 (1) (c) of the Rules of Procedure.