Constitutional Court

KI96/19, Applicant: Ðeljalj Kazagić, constitutional review of Decision Pzd. no. 820/2019 of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Kosovo of 5 February 2019

KI96/19, Resolution on Inadmissibility, adopted on 8 October 2019, published on 31 October 2019

Keywords: individual referral, criminal procedure, right to a fair trial, ratione materiae, inadmissible referral

The Applicant alleged that the regular courts, by rejecting his requests for extraordinary mitigation of punishment, violated Article 31 [Right to Fair and Impartial Trial] of the Constitution by claiming that he was prevented from attending the session of the Court of Appeals.

The Court, having considered the case in its entirety, concluded that Article 31 of the Constitution, in the light of the interpretation of Article 6 of the Convention, does not apply to the proceedings for the review of any criminal case because a person whose sentence has become final and enforceable, and who makes a request for the review of his case during this proceeding has not been charged with a criminal offence within the meaning of Article 6 of the Convention. For this reason, the Court considers the Applicant’s allegations concerning the refusal of regular courts of his request for extraordinary mitigation of punishment are not ratione materiae compatible with the Constitution, because Article 31 of the Constitution, in conjunction with Article 6 of the Convention does not apply. Consequently, the Court concluded that the Applicant’s Referral pursuant to Rule 39 (3) (b) of the Rules of Procedure is inadmissible.