Constitutional Court

The Applicants submitted Referral based on Article 113.7 of the Constitution of Kosovo, alleging that their property rights and fair trial were violated by the Inspectorate of the Municipality of Prishtina, the Mayor of Municipality of Prishtina and finally, these violations were confirmed by the Judgment of the Supreme Court, The basis of the Applicants’ Referral was their allegation that the Inspectorate of the Municipality of Prishtina made a decision on demolition of two sheds, which were the property of the Applicants and that the provided evidence by the Applicants to the Inspectorate of the Municipality of Prishtina were not taken into account. Furthermore, the evidence of the Applicants was not taken into account also by the Mayor of the Municipality of Prishtina and the Supreme Court of Kosovo, The Court examined beforehand, whether the Applicants fulfilled the admissibility requirement of the Referral. After the conclusion that the Applicants fulfilled all admissibility requirements, the Court adjudicated their Referral in substance, The Court notes that the Municipal Inspectorate Section decided to demolish the sheds of the Applicants in order to protect public space and to stop their misuse. However, the decision by the Municipal Inspectorate Section was made without establishing first if there were any property issues in relation to the sheds, The Court stated that the Applicants have provided evidence of property regarding the sheds, which were the subject of the dispute in the Supreme Court, but the abovementioned court did not take into account this evidence and did not provide either an express reply in relation to the provided evidence, but rather issued an unreasoned decision. By reviewing the Referral in its substance, the Court concluded that the right of the Applicants to be heard and right to a reasoned decision, as a component of the right to a fair and impartial trial was violated. For these reasons, the Court held: i) that there has been a breach of Article 31 [Right to Fair and Impartial Trial] in conjunction with paragraph 1 of Article 6 [Right to a Fair Trial] of the European Convention on Human Rights; ii) declares invalid the Judgment of the Supreme Court of Kosovo A.nr.1053/2008 of 31 of May 2012. iii) remands the Judgment of the Supreme Court for reconsideration in conformity with the judgment of the Constitutional Court; and iv) grants the request for interim measure until the time the Supreme Court of Kosovo reconsiders the matter as per ratio decidendi of this Court