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Press Release

08.06.2010

Following the interest generated by the Judgment issued by the Constitutional Court on 18 March 2010 in the case of Cemailj Kurtisi against the Municipality of Prizren in relation to the emblem adopted by the Municipality the Court wishes to bring the attention of the public and the media to the terms of the Judgment.  The case concerned the interpretation by the Court of the multi-ethnic nature of the Republic of Kosovo as enshrined in the Constitution.

The Court, in the operative part of its Judgment,

•    Found that there had been a violation of the rights of the non-majority Communities in Prizren to preserve, maintain and promote their identity;
•    Decided that Article 7 of the Statute of the Municipality of Prizren was incompatible with the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo, in particular Articles 3, Article 7.1, Article 58 and Article 59;
•    Ordered the Municipality of Prizren to amend its Statute and its emblem within the period of three months from the delivery of the Judgment in order to bring them into conformity with the Constitution and to not exclude the non-majority Communities;

The Court stated that Albanian and other Communities should be equally able to preserve their tradition, culture and identity through their respective symbols.  Mr Kurtesi never objected to the image of the House of the League of Prizren being part of the emblem of the Municipality and indeed the Court never expressed a view that the image of the House of the League of Prizren was objectionable.  The Court also expressed the view, that the proposal of Mr Kurtesi in relation to having the words “Komuna”, “Opstina” and “Belediye” within the circle of the emblem was a reasonable one.  The Municipality of Prizren is free to adopt any emblem that it wishes, provided that it conforms with the principles set out in the Judgment.  The Court has full confidence that the Municipality of Prizren will comply with the Judgment of the Court.

The full text of the Judgment is available on the Court’s website, http://www.gjk-ks.org and it is recommended that interested parties view the full Judgment at the following links:
http://www.gjk-ks.org/wp-content/uploads/vendimet/ko_01_09_vendimi_al.pdf,
http://www.gjk-ks.org/wp-content/uploads/vendimet/ko_01-09_sr.pdf and
http://www.gjk-ks.org/wp-content/uploads/vendimet/ko_01_09_Ven_ang.pdf

The Constitutional Court of Kosovo was established in January 2009.

With its authority to review legislation and individual complaints of rights violations, the Court is the ultimate check on legislative and executive power in Kosovo and the final arbiter of the meaning of constitutional provisions enshrining human rights and freedoms.

"Perandori Justinian", nr. 44. 10000 Prishtina, Republic of Kosovo

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© The Constitutional Court of Kosovo

© The Constitutional Court of Kosovo