Constitutional Court

The Applicants filed a referral pursuant to Article 113.7 of the Constitution of Kosovo, claiming that the Articles 37, 38 and 39 of the Criminal Code of Republic of Kosovo are in contradiction with the Constitution. Applicants claimed that the contested articles are inconsistent with constitutional provisions that guarantee freedom of the media and freedom of expression, and in contradiction of the European Convention on Human Rights, namely the provisions that protect freedom of expression, Article 37 of the Criminal Code regulates the issue of criminal liability of chief editors, publishers, printers or manufacturers of informative publication by which the crime was committed, Article 38 regulates the protection of the source of information and Article 39 regulates the application of the general criminal liability for offenses committed by the media. Applicants claim that the wording of these articles is wide enough without specifying the criminal offenses that can be committed through the media, and as such seriously endanger the freedom of journalists in the course of their profession which is a vital part of the functioning of democracy in Kosovo, The Court found that the Applicants are a authorized party and the referral is filed within the prescribed period of time, they have met all admissibility criteria and, therefore, their referral is admissible, Since the Court had previously decided to postpone this case, to await results of a legislative process initiated in Assembly for the deletion of three disputed articles of the Criminal Code, and which is an element of particular importance on the referral of the applicant. Meanwhile, on November 2, the legislative process ended, namely the Assembly of Kosovo has adopted 04/L-129 Law that removes three contested articles of the Criminal Code. Taking into account the unexpected legislative event that has occurred the Court finds that the applicants do not have a case or unsolved dispute regarding the constitutionality of Articles 37, 38 and 39 of the Criminal Code. The issue is actually without a subject matter