Constitutional Court

KI113/18, KI114/18 and KI115/18, Constitutional review of Decisions [CN. No. 20/14 of 17 January 2018; CN. No. 19/14 of 17 January 2018; and CN. No. 407/14 of 28 March 2018] of the Basic Court in Prishtina

KI113/18, KI114/18 & KI115/18, Applicants Halim Thaqi, Ramadan Grajqevci and Enver Hajrizi

Resolution on Inadmissibility of 4 September 2019, published on 26 September 2019

Keywords: Individual referrals, joint referrals, out of time, manifestly ill-founded

Referral KI113/18 was submitted by Halim Thaqi; Referral KI114/18 was submitted by Ramadan Grajqevci; and Referral KI115/18 was submitted by Enver Hajrizi. The first Applicant challenged Decision [CN. No. 20/14] of 17 January 2018 of the Basic Court, which was served on him on 1 February 2018. The second Applicant challenged Decision [CN. No. 19/14] of 17 January 2018 of the Basic Court, which was served on him on 1 February 2018. The third Applicant challenged Decision [CN. No. 407/14] of the Basic Court of 28 March 2018, which was served on him on 10 May 2018.

The Applicants allege that the Basic Court violated their rights guaranteed by Articles 3, 24, 31, 46 and 54 of the Constitution and their rights guaranteed by Article 6 of the ECHR and Articles 7 and 10 of the UDHR. The Applicants, with an almost identical reasoning for their referrals submitted by their joint lawyer, emphasize that their right to fair and impartial trial and the right to protection of property have been violated, as the Basic Court in Prishtina did not adjudicate at all the case. In their view, it is “unlawful and unfair” to conclude a court proceeding with procedural actions without assessing the merits of the dispute.

Regarding Referrals KI113/18 and KI114/18, the Court noted that both the first and second Applicants submitted their respective Referrals to the Court on 8 August 2018, whereas they were served with the challenged decisions of the Basic Court on 1 February 2018. The fact that the Applicants received the challenged decisions on 1 February 2018, the Court confirmed through the acknowledgments of receipt received by the Basic Court itself. Accordingly, the Court found that Referrals KI113/18 and KI114/18 were filed after the legal deadline of 4 (four) months foreseen by the Law and Rules of Procedure.

With regard to Referral KI115/18, the Court concluded that the third Applicant did not substantiate allegations that the respective proceedings before the Basic Court were in any way unfair or arbitrary and that the challenged decision violated the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution and the ECHR.

In conclusion, Referrals KI113/18 and KI114/18 were declared inadmissible because they were submitted out of 4 month deadline; whereas Referral KI115/18 was declared inadmissible as it was manifestly ill-founded on constitutional basis.