Constitutional Court

The Applicant filed a Referral pursuant to Article 113.7 of the Constitution, asserting that his Constitutional rights were infringed by the imposition of a monthly fee on him to be collected by the Kosovo Energy Corporation (KEK) for services from Radio Television of Kosovo (RTK) under a scheme mandated by UNMIK Administrative Direction No. 2000/12. The Applicant argued that the arrangement violated the Law of Obligations and was an unenforceable contract because he and other consumers were coerced into paying for services, and that the failure of the courts to enforce his rights violated the Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights. In part, RTK responded that the Applicant failed to request an exemption pursuant to the Law on RTK and that the arrangement was authorized by the Assembly in the public interest. In part, KEK responded that its actions were undertaken in compliance with the Law on RTK, adding that its obligation to collect fees would expire on 30 November 2009 and would not be renewed. In part, the Assembly advised the Court that it anticipated enactment of an amendment to the Law on RTK that would exempt indigent persons, and that it was partially financing RTK through other sources.
The Court noted that as of the date of its decision no fees were being charged to or collected directly from individuals or households for RTK services, which included the Applicant. Accordingly, the Court found that the Applicant was not the victim of a Constitutional violation committed by a public authority, which is a prerequisite to sustaining an interim measure, citing Biriuk v. Lithuania and Dudgeon v. the United Kingdom, and to maintaining a claim before the Court pursuant to Article 113.7. The Court held that the Applicant’s claim was therefore moot, struck the Referral pursuant to Rules 32 and 37 of the Rules of Procedure, and declined to make any further order on interim measures or to continue its examination of the Referral