Decisions from the review session held on 12 December 2019

In the review session held on 12 December 2019, the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Kosovo reviewed and decided on the Referrals: 1. KO 219/19; 2. KI 24/18; 3. KI 57/19 and 4. KI 55/19.
Below you can read the brief summary of the Court’s decisions (full texts of resolutions and judgments will be submitted to the parties, will be published on the Court’s website and in the Official Gazette during the following days):

1. Decision on interim measure
Case: KO 219/19
Applicant: The Ombudsperson

The subject matter of the Referral was the constitutional review of the Ombudsperson’s request for interim measure in accordance with Law No. 06/L-111 on Salaries in Public Sector, promulgated in the Official Gazette on 1 March 2019, which entered into force nine (9) months after its publication in the Official Gazette.
The Applicant alleged that the challenged Law is incompatible with paragraph 2 of Article 3 [Equality Before the Law], Article 4 [Form of Government and Separation of Power], paragraph 1 of Article 7 [Values], Article 10 [Economy] , Article 21 [General Principles], paragraph 1 of Article 22 [Direct Applicability of International Agreements and Instruments], Article 23 [Human Dignity], Article 24 [Equality Before the Law], Article 46 [Protection of Property], Article 55 [Limitations on Fundamental Rights and Freedoms], paragraphs 3 and 7 of Article 58 [Responsibilities of the State], paragraph 2 of Article 102 [General Principles of the Judicial System], paragraph 1 of Article 109 [State Prosecutor], Article 119 [General Principles], paragraphs 1 and 2 of Article 142 [Independent Agencies], Article 130 [Civil Aviation Authority] of the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo, Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 [Protection of Property] of the European Convention on Human Rights and paragraph 2 of Article 23 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Regarding the request for interim measure, the Ombudsperson, referring to the relevant provisions of the Constitution, the Law on the Constitutional Court and the Rules of Procedure of the Court, requested the Constitutional Court to “immediately suspend Law No. 06/L-111 on Salaries in Public Sector.” The Ombudsperson also stated that he has received a total of 35 individual complaints from various public sector entities and that it is in the “interest of the appellants, but also of the public, that the Court assesses whether the challenged Law affects the legitimate interests of those appellants”.
– The Court, without prejudice to the merits of the Referral and constitutionality of the challenged Law, in accordance with Article 116.2 of the Constitution, Article 27 of the Law on the Constitutional Court and Rule 57 of the Rules of Procedure, decided by majority vote:
I. TO APPROVE interim measure in duration until 30 March 2020, from the date of issuance of this decision;
II. TO IMMEDIATELY SUSPEND implementation in entirety of Law No. 06/L-111 on Salaries in Public Sector, in the same duration.

Finally, the Court also approved the proposal of Judge Rapporteur that, in accordance with Rule 55 [Amicus Curiae] of the Rules of Procedure of the Court, to invite the Venice Commission to submit an Opinion on Law No. 06/L-111 on Salaries in Public Sector.

2. Resolution
Case: KI 24/18
Applicant: Jadranka Šapiċ

The subject matter of the Referral was the constitutional review of the response of the Privatization Agency of Kosovo, of 8 February 2018, which allegedly violated the Applicant’s fundamental rights and freedoms guaranteed by Articles 24 [Equality Before the Law], 31 [Right to Fair and Impartial Trial], 32 [Right to Legal Remedies] and 46 [Protection of Property] of the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo, and Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
The Referral was based on paragraphs 1 and 7 of Article 113 [Jurisdiction and Authorized Parties] of the Constitution, Articles 22 [Processing Referrals] and 47 [Individual Requests] of Law No. 03/L-121 on the Constitutional Court, and Rule 32 [Filing of Referrals and Replies] of the Rules of Procedure of the Constitutional Court.
– The Court, in accordance with Article 113.7 of the Constitution, Article 20 of the Law on the Constitutional Court and Rule 39 (1) (b) of the Rules of Procedure, decided that the Referral is inadmissible.

3. Resolution
Case: KI 57/19
Applicant: Slavica Mirić

The subject matter of the Referral was the constitutional review of the Decision of the Appellate Panel of the Special Chamber of the Supreme Court on Privatization Agency of Kosovo Related Matters [AC-I-16-0238], of 10 January 2019. The Applicant alleged that this Decision violated her rights and freedoms guaranteed by Article 21 [General Principles], Article 31 [Right to Fair and Impartial Trial] and Article 53 [Interpretation of the Human Rights Provisions] of the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo, in conjunction with Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
The Referral was based on paragraphs 1 and 7 of Article 113 [Jurisdiction and Authorized Parties] of the Constitution, Articles 22 [Processing Referrals] and 47 [Individual Requests] of Law No. 03/L-121 on the Constitutional Court, and Rule 32 [Filing of Referrals and Replies] of the Rules of Procedure of the Constitutional Court.
– The Court, in accordance with Article 113.7 of the Constitution, Article 20 of the Law on the Constitutional Court and Rules 32 (6), 39 (2) and 59 (2) of the Rules of Procedure, decided that the Referral is inadmissible.

4. Resolution
Case: KI 55/19
Applicant: Ramadan Osmani

The subject matter of the Referral was the constitutional review of the Judgment [PML. No. 248/18] of the Supreme Court of 6 November 2018, in conjunction with the Judgment [PKR. No. 610/2015], of the Basic Court in Prishtina of 21 November 2017, and the Judgment [PAKR. No. 91/2018], of the Court of Appeals of 10 April 2018. The Applicant alleged that the Judgment of the Supreme Court violated his rights guaranteed by Article 31, paragraphs 1 and 5 [Right to Fair and Impartial Trial] of the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo, Article 6, paragraph 2 [Right to a fair trial] of the European Convention on Human Rights and Article 11 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The Referral was based on paragraphs 1 and 7 of Article 113 [Jurisdiction and Authorized Parties] of the Constitution, Articles 22 [Processing Referrals] and 47 [Individual Requests] of Law No. 03/L-121 on the Constitutional Court, and Rule 32 [Filing of Referrals and Replies] of the Rules of Procedure of the Constitutional Court.
– The Court, in accordance with Article 113.7 of the Constitution, Article 20 of the Law on the Constitutional Court and Rules 39 (2) and 59 (2) of the Rules of Procedure, decided that the Referral is inadmissible.