Constitutional Court

KI67/18, Applicant, Arbenita Arifi, Constitutional review of Decree No. DF-02-2018 on the Declaration of Pardon of the President of the Republic of Kosovo of 10 April 2018

KI67/18, Resolution on Inadmissibility of 14 May 2019, published on 10 July 2019

Keywords: Individual referral, decree of the President, ratione personae

On 11 October 2010, R. M. from Prishtina committed the criminal offense of murder, on which occasion A. A., the father of the Applicant, was murdered.

On 10 April 2018, the President of the Republic of Kosovo, through the Decree on the Declaration of Pardon (DF-2-2018), pardoned the sentences of 14 (fourteen) convicted persons. Among the pardoned persons was R. M., who had been pardoned for 2 (two) years of serving the sentence.

The Applicant alleged that the Decree of the President, which she challenged before the Court, is in contradiction with the Constitution, not specifying what rights and freedoms have been violated.

The Applicant in essence alleged that the legal requirements for the pardon of R.M. were not fulfilled, namely the criminal offense for which R.M. was convicted is not foreseen as a criminal offense for which pardon can be granted.

The Court noted that the President’s Decree did not refer to any situation affecting the rights of another person and, consequently, it could not have the effect of alleged violations of the Applicant’s rights and freedoms because it concerned only the persons defined in the Decree, even though the Applicant is the heir of the victim, A.A., killed by the person included in the challenged decision.

In addition, the Court emphasized that the legal consequences of the Decree of the President affect and extend only on convicts and not on third persons.

The Court found that the Applicant’s Referral is incompatible ratione personae with the

Constitution, because it has not fulfilled the requirements foreseen by Article 113.7 of the Constitution for individual referrals.