Constitutional Court

The President of the Assembly, the President of the Republic of Kosovo, and the Prime Minister submitted requests for clarification to the Court regarding its earlier Judgment invalidating the Presidential election, The Court responded to three questions submitted by the Assembly President. First, the Court clarified that the Judgment invalidated the Presidential election held on 22 February 2011, effective on 30 March 2011. Second, the Court clarified that the Judgment did not require the holding of early national elections. Third, the Court clarified that Kosovo had an Acting President as of 30 March 2011, avoiding an institutional vacuum, In addition, the Court responded to a single question from the President of Kosovo, clarifying again that the country had an Acting President, effective 30 March 2011, which avoided an institutional vacuum, Finally, the Court responded to three questions posed by the Prime Minister on behalf of the Government. First, the Court directed the Prime Minister to the Judgment for clarification concerning its holdings on the issues of whether Article 86 of the Constitution requires a quorum of 80 or 120 Deputies for voting on the first and second ballots in a Presidential election, the quorum necessary for a third vote and whether the presence of a Deputy who abstains from voting is counted against the quorum. Second, the Court clarified that Kosovo had an Acting President as of 30 March 2011, avoiding an institutional vacuum. Third, the Court declined to respond to the Prime Minister’s question about whether it is possible to proceed directly to a third ballot when a large number of Deputies refuse to participate in a Presidential election, on the ground that the Court did not have authority to answer hypothetical questions, The Court related that the Prime Minister’s submission was framed as a Referral under Article 93.10 of the Constitution, noting that it did not treat the request as a new Referral, because it was clearly a request for clarification. The Court added that the Government would be entitled to file a new Referral pursuant to Article 93.10 upon a showing of new facts and circumstances