Constitutional Court

KO162/18, Applicant: The President of the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo, review of the amendment of the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo, proposed by 80 (eighty) deputies of the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo and submitted by the President of the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo on 24 October 2018, by letter No. 06/2156/1156-DO

KO162/18, Judgment rendered on 19 December 2018, published on 07.02.2019

Keywords: Institutional referral, proposed constitutional amendment, Chapter II of the Constitution, admissible referral

On 24 October 2018, the President of the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo, in accordance with Articles 113.9 and 144.3 of the Constitution, referred to the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Kosovo an amendment of the Constitution proposed by 80 (eighty) deputies of the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo , requesting the Court to make a preliminary assessment of whether the proposed amendment diminishes any of the rights and freedoms guaranteed by Chapter II of the Constitution.

The proposed amendment foresees the addition of a new paragraph after paragraph 8 of Article 22 [Direct Applicability of International Agreements and Instruments] of the Constitution, namely to add paragraph 9, as follows:

“(9) Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence”.

The proposers of the amendment allege that the proposed amendment establishes important standards in the field of violence against women and domestic violence and aims to protect women from all forms of violence and prevent, prosecute and eliminate violence against women and domestic violence.

The Court found that the wording of the proposed amendment does not diminish any of the rights and freedoms set forth in Chapter II of the Constitution. Moreover, it only advances and develops these rights.