Constitutional Court

KI134/19, Applicant: Dobrica Pucar, constitutional review of Judgment GSK-KPA-A-268/15 of the Supreme Court of the Kosovo Property Agency Related Matters of 30 January 2019 

KI134/19, Resolution on inadmissibility of 16 January 2020, published on 11 February 2020 

Keywords: Individual referral, right to property, non-exhaustion of legal remedies, resolution on inadmissibility

The Applicant’s spouse filed a claim with the KPA to return the property right over the apartment where he lived until 1999. Also a third party filed a claim for recognition of the property right over the same apartment.

The Property Claims Commission rendered the decision, whereby it is declared incompetent to decide on the property in question because the property in question does not fall within its jurisdiction to decide, and directed the parties to the dispute to exercise their property rights before the regular courts, such a Commission’s position was also supported by the Appellate Panel, therefore it dismissed the Applicant’s appeal as ungrounded.

The Applicant submitted the Referral to the Court due to violation of Article 31 of the Constitution in conjunction with Article 6 of the ECHR, on the grounds that she could not exercise her property rights over an apartment over which she considers to have rights, thereby violating her rights under Article 46 of the Constitution.

The Court concluded that the decisions of the Commission and the Appellate Panel did not concern the property in question, namely, who has the property rights over the apartment in question. In fact, the issue of property in the present case has not yet been resolved and the Applicant may at any time initiate the proceedings before the regular courts where she could attempt to exercise her property rights.

In this regard, the Court dismissed the Applicant’s Referral for non-exhaustion of legal remedies in accordance with Article 113.7 of the Constitution, Article 47.2 of the Law and Rule 39 (1) (b) of the Rules of Procedure.