Constitutional Court

KI218/19, Applicant: Shani Morina, Constitutional review of Decision Ac.No. 2451/19 of the  Court of Appeals of Kosovo, of 2 July 2019 

Keywords: individual referral, right to a fair trial outside the time limit, decision on inadmissibility

The Applicant was the guarantor of the loan agreement signed between the Company „Agroeli“ from Suharekë and Raiffeisen Bank Kosovo. According to the agreement the Applicant, guaranteed with his property  that the Company „P.T.P. Agroeli“, will perform  all its obligations to Raiffeisen Bank within the deadline.

Due to the non-performance of obligations under the agreement, Raiffeisen Bank  initiated court proceedings seeking enforcement of the agreement.

The courts granted the enforcement. The Applicant requested from the Office of the Chief  State Prosecutor to initiate a request for the protection of legality against the decisions of the regular courts, which the prosecution rejected.

In this respect, the Applicant stated before the court that by granting the enforcement, his rights and freedoms  guaranteed by Article 31 [Right to Fair and Impartial Trial] of the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo, were violated.

Prior to analyzing the Applicant’s allegations, the Court determined whether the Applicant had fulfilled all the formal requirements for filing the Referral with the Court, as well as whether the Applicant had filed the Referral within the deadline, in accordance with Article 49 of the Law. In this regard, the Court found that, pursuant to Article 49 of the Law, the last decision was the decision rejecting the Applicant’s appeal. In this respect, the Court concluded that the last decision in this case was in fact the decision [Ac.No.2451/19] of the Court of Appeals, of 2 July 2019, and that the deadline began to run from the date of receipt of the above decision by the Applicant’s representative or the Applicant himself and that he cannot take into account the notification of the Chief State Prosecutor.

On this basis, the Court concluded that the Referral had not been filed within the deadline prescribed by Article 49 of the Law and Rule 39 (1) (c) of the Rules of Procedure and therefore must  be declared inadmissible on the ground that it was out of time.