Gogic: It is in the interest of institutional legality for the Constitutional Court to rule promptly on the Serb List’s appeal

Political scientist Ognjen Gogic believes that, in the interest of the efficient constitution of new institutions in Kosovo, as well as their legality, it is necessary for the Constitutional Court to rule as soon as possible on the appeal filed by the Serb List against the election of Nenad Rasic as Deputy Speaker of Parliament in the previous term. As he notes, the holding of elections and the constitution of a new parliamentary term have not eliminated the need or the obligation of the Constitutional Court to respond to that appeal.

According to Gogic, the adoption of a decision addressing the question of whether the election of a Deputy Speaker of the Assembly from the Serbian community was conducted in accordance with regulations—given that he did not have the support of the majority of Serbian MPs—has been unreasonably delayed.

“There has been no ruling for more than three months. Last year, the Constitutional Court ruled on three occasions in connection with the crisis surrounding the constitution of parliament, and all of those issues were more complex to consider, yet it took the Court less time to respond,” he points out.

As he explains, in ruling on this matter, the Court essentially needs to build on its previous reasoning, since it has already dealt with the issue of electing a Deputy Speaker from the Serbian community when it responded to the Serb List’s first appeal during the formation of the previous parliamentary term.

“All the more puzzling is the length of time it is taking, coupled with the fact that the Court has not made any statement whatsoever as to when a ruling might be expected, nor has it introduced an interim measure,” Gogic says.

In theory, he notes, the Court could uphold the Serb List’s appeal, in which case the previous parliamentary term would, in theory, never have been constitutionally constituted, nor could it have been dissolved.

“The Court could say that the elections that were held were themselves irregular, that they could not have been held, that everything is null and void. That would amount to an extraordinary constitutional and legal crisis for Kosovo, which makes it completely incomprehensible that the Constitutional Court has not taken into account the context in which all of this is unfolding,” our interlocutor assesses.

If the constitution of the new parliamentary term following the elections held on 28 December were to begin without a decision by the Constitutional Court, Gogic believes that Rasic would once again be elected Deputy Speaker of the Assembly, since this time it is simpler, given that Albin Kurti can form a majority without an agreement with other Albanian parties.

“Then the situation would likely be repeated, with the Serb List once again filing an appeal. Therefore, in the interest primarily of the efficiency of constituting institutions, and of their legality as well, it would be necessary for the Constitutional Court to rule as soon as possible and respond to this first appeal before a second one arises,” Gogic says.

As to whether the process of forming a new government would be blocked if the scenario from the previous term were repeated and the Serb List were to file another appeal, he says this would depend on whether the Court imposed interim measures. He recalls that last time the Serb List filed an appeal, the Constitutional Court did not order interim measures and did not suspend deadlines or actions.

“Had it imposed an interim measure, the Assembly would not have been able to function, and consequently processes such as granting the mandate to form a government could not have taken place. So everything depends on whether the Constitutional Court decides this time to adopt an interim measure that would halt all processes. If it does not, then everything continues, the Government can be formed, but with the risk that everything could later be declared invalid,” Gogic explains.

Asked whether it would be in the interest of Self-Determination and Albin Kurti for the Court to rule as soon as possible, regardless of what the decision might be, Gogic says he assumes it would be in Kurti’s interest for the Constitutional Court to be more efficient in delivering decisions, especially on this matter, as it would remove an obstacle to promptly forming a government.

“However, I do not think Kurti has any influence over the Constitutional Court. He is not the reason why the Court is inefficient in deciding this case. There are some internal reasons within the Constitutional Court, and we do not know what they are, but I do not believe political pressure is the reason why this ruling has yet to be issued,” he concludes.