Constitutional Court

KO56/20, Applicants: Rexhep Selimi and 29 other deputies of the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo – Review of “the constitutionality of the action of the President of the Republic of Kosovo, of 23 March 2020, expressed through a press conference for non-compliance and non-implementation of the decision of the Government of the Republic of Kosovo”.

KO56/20 Decision rendered on 17 December 2020, published on 8 January 2021

Keywords: institutional referral, declaration of the president, stay of proceedings

The Applicants, on 31 March 2020 submitted their Referral to the Court, alleging that the “action” of the President of the Republic of Kosovo expressed through his Statement at the press conference constituted a serious violation of the Constitution, respectively paragraph 2 of Article 84 [Competencies of the President], paragraphs 3 and 4 of Article 4 [Form of Government and Separation of Power], paragraph 1 of Article 7 [Values], paragraphs 1 and 2 and paragraph 4 of Article 16 [Supremacy of the Constitution], paragraph 4 of Article 93 [Competencies of the Government], Article 97 [Responsibilities] and paragraph 9 of Article 65 [Competencies of the Assembly of Kosovo] of the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo (hereinafter: the Constitution).

The court, immediately after the registration of the Referral, had conducted the required proceedings for notifying the parties in accordance with the legal provisions in force. As a result, the Court received the President’s response to the Applicants’ allegations, as well as the Applicants’ comments on the President’s response.

However, before the Court could finally decide on the Applicants’ Referral, alleging a serious violation of the Constitution by the President, on 5 November 2020, the President of the Republic of Kosovo resigned from the position of President.

In this context, paragraph 5 of Rule 75 of the Rules of Procedure stipulates that: “The Court shall order stay of proceedings initiated pursuant to this Rule in the event that before issuing its decision, the President of the Republic has resigned or has otherwise terminated his/her mandate”.

As a result of this new circumstance, and based on the fact that the Referral was submitted pursuant to Article 113, paragraph 6 of the Constitution in which case the Applicants challenge the constitutionality of the President’s action through his Statement given on 23 March 2020 and consequently, related to the Referral for ascertainment of a serious violation that could result in the dismissal of the President, while the President no longer exercises this duty, the Court based on the circumstances created after the submission of the Referral by the Applicants, as a result of the resignation of the President, and in accordance with Article 113.6 of the Constitution, Articles 44 and 45 of the Law, and Rules 59 and 75 (5) of the Rules of Procedure, held that there was no longer a case before it and, consequently, unanimously decided to stay the proceedings for further review of the Referral.