Constitutional Court

KI 115/16 Applicant: Branko Ljumović, Ranko Ljumović and Anica Vukićević-Ljumović, requesting constitutional review of Judgment AC-II-12-0126 of the Appellate Panel of the Special Chamber of the Supreme Court of Kosovo on Privatization Agency of Kosovo Related Matters, of 21 April 2016

KI 115/16, Judgment of 29 May 2018, published on 19 June 2018

Key words: individual referral, property dispute, Special Chamber of the Supreme Court of Kosovo on the Privatization Agency of Kosovo Related Matters, an admissible referral, the Applicants’ right to fair and impartial trial was violated, the Applicants’ right to a reasoned court decision was denied.

The Applicant challenge Judgment [AC-II-12-126] from 21 April 2016 of Appellate Panel of the Special Chamber of the Supreme Court of Kosovo on Privatization Agency of Kosovo Related Matters (hereinafter: Appellate Panel) in connection with  Judgment Judgment [C. No. 2021/2007] from 29 July 2010 of the Municipal Court in Prishtina.

Appellate Panel by Judgment [AC-II-12-126] approved the Privatization Agency of Kosovo appeal and annulled Judgment [C. No. 2021/2007] of the Municipal Court in Prishtina, which confirmed property rights of applicant.

The applicants claim that their rights have been violated, guaranteed by a) Article 24 of the Constitution, because, according to their claims, the Appeals Panel placed them in an unequal position not respecting their own judicial practice; b) Article 31 of the Constitution, since the judgment of the Appeals Panel was not reasoned in relation to the main allegations of the applicants, and additionally, by the expiration of the deadline for appeal, the judgment of the Municipal Court became the final judgment res judicata; and c) Article 46 of the Constitution in conjunction with Article 1  of Protocol 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights, since, according to the claims, from the moment of the validity of the judgment of the Municipal Court, they acquired “legitimate expectations” of property rights, defined on the basis of the case law of the European Court of Human Rights.

Based on the case law of the European Court of Human Rights and after considering the allegations of the applicants, the Court found that the Appeals Panel, without reasoning  the basic requests of the applicants regarding the timeliness of the appeal of the Privatization Agency of Kosovo, the result of which annulled the judgment of the Municipal Court, violated the applicants’ right on for a fair and impartial trial guaranteed by Article 31 of the Constitution in conjunction with Article 6 (1) of the European Convention on Human Rights. As a result of this violation, applicants were deprived of the right to a reasoned court decision.