Judgment

Assessment of the Government’s Proposals for Amendments of the Constitution submitted by the President of the Assembly of the Republic on 12 April 2012

Case No. KO 38/12

The Applicant has filed a Referral in compliance with Articles 113.7 and 21.4 of the Constitution, Articles 20, 22.7 and 22.8 of the Law no. 03/L-121 on the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Kosovo, of 15 January 2009.
On 26 November 2011, the Applicant submitted a Referral to the Constitutional Court. (??)
The President of Assembly submitted the Referral on 12 April 2012, in relation to constitutional amendments proposed by the Government, On the same date, a copy of the referral was delivered to the President of the Republic of Kosovo, the Prime Minister of Kosovo, and the Ombudsperson, The Court emphasized that the amendments, amongst others, propose the omission of Articles 146 and 147 of the Constitution, which provide on the mandate, powers and obligations of the ICR. The Court also invoked Article 5, paragraph 2, of the Annex IX of the Comprehensive Proposal for the Kosovo Status Settlement (CSP), which provides: “5.2 The mandate of the ICR shall be terminated when the International Steering Group determines that Kosovo has implemented the terms of this Settlement”, The Court reminded that pursuant to Article 113, paragraph 9 of the Constitution: „The President of the Assembly of Kosovo refers proposed Constitutional amendments before approval by the Assembly to confirm that the proposed amendment does not diminish the rights and freedoms guaranteed by Chapter II of the Constitution“, Upon review of the Referral, which includes the constitutional amendments as proposed by the Government, submitted on 12 April 2012 by the President of the Assembly of Kosovo, pursuant to Article 113, paragraph 9, the Constitutional Court unanimously found the referral admissible, The Court found that out of 22 amendments in the Government proposal on Constitutional amendments, submitted by the President of Assembly on 12th of April 2012, only amendment no. 17 diminishes the rights and freedoms guaranteed by Chapter II of the Constitution.

Type of Referral:

KO - Referral from state organisations

Type of act:

Judgment

Violation of constitutional rights

Type of procedure followed before other institutions :

Other