Notification on the published decision on interim measure in case KO 127/21

The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Kosovo today published the Decision on interim measure in case KO 127/21, submitted by Abelard Tahiri and 10 other Deputies of the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo, whereby was requested the constitutional review of Decision No. 08-V-029 of the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo, of 30 June 2021, for the dismissal of five (5) members of the Independent Oversight Board for the Civil Service of Kosovo.

On 30 June 2021, the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo, by Decision [No. 08-V-029], had approved the recommendation of the Assembly’s Committee on Public Administration for the dismissal of five (5) members of the Independent Oversight Board for the Kosovo Civil Service. The Applicants, namely 11 Deputies of the Assembly of Kosovo, by Referral KO127/21, requested the constitutional review of the above-mentioned Decision of the Assembly. In the meantime, and for the purposes of assessing the necessity of imposing interim measures, the Constitutional Court requested information from the Assembly about the actions taken after the challenged Decision, and consequently was informed by the Assembly that it had announced vacancies for the election of new members of the Board.

The Applicants allege before the Court, inter alia, that the challenged Decision of the Assembly violates the independence of the Board guaranteed by Article 101 [Civil Service] and Article 142 [Independent Agencies] of the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo, therefore request that the same be annulled. The Applicants, moreover, referring to paragraph 2 of Article 43 (Deadline) of the Law on the Constitutional Court, stated that the challenged Decision is subject to ex-lege suspension effect regarding the legal consequences, requesting the Constitutional Court to notify the Assembly that taking actions to implement the challenged Decision is contrary to the suspension effect set forth in the Law on the Constitutional Court.

The Court considered the allegations of the Applicants regarding the interim measures and the relevant response of the Assembly, and initially, referring to its case law, clarified the circumstances when acts of the Assembly whose constitutionality is challenged by ten (10) or more deputies of the Assembly of Kosovo before the Court are subject to the suspension effect, as defined in the Law on the Constitutional Court. The Court also clarified that taking into account that the challenged Decision, in procedural terms, in order to produce legal consequences does not provide for its delivery to the President, it is not subject to the suspension effect based on Article 43 of the Law on the Constitutional Court. However, and considering that the Referral before the Court raises a number of issues related to the independence and functioning of the Board as an independent institution established by the Constitution and which ensures the observance of the rules and principles governing the civil service, the Court considered that it was necessary to impose interim measures ex officio, based on Article 27 (Interim Measures) of the Law on the Constitutional Court and Rule 56 (Request for Interim Measures) of the Rules of Procedure.

Consequently and based on the explanations given in the published Decision, noting that the imposition of interim measures does not prejudice the admissibility or merits of the case, the Court imposed the interim measures until 15 December 2021, thus immediately suspending the challenged Decision, and determining that the Assembly must refrain from any action related to the matter of electing new members until the final decision of the Court.

Note:

This press release was prepared by the Secretariat of the Court for informational purposes only. The full text of the decision has been served to the parties involved in the case, is published on the Court’s website and will be published on the Official Gazette within set deadlines.
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