Kosovo Law Institute: Today’s decisions by the caretaker government are illegal and have pre-election nature

The Kosovo Law Institute (KLI) issued a statement contesting the decisions adopted today by Kosovo’s caretaker government, noting that they were made by a cabinet whose composition, according to a ruling of the Supreme Court, is contrary to the Constitution and the law. The Institute added that the adoption of such decisions on the eve of the second round of local elections, and amid the possibility of holding early parliamentary elections, constitutes part of an election campaign.

The caretaker government of Kosovo adopted today the Draft Budget for 2026, valued at four billion euros, which provides for payment of a 13th salary to the public sector, as well as an increase in allowances and pensions.

In its statement, the Institute emphasized that it is by no means opposed to raising salaries, pensions, or benefits for certain categories of citizens, but stressed that such decisions must be fully in accordance with the Constitution and the law — not adopted in a pre-election context.

“In a difficult economic situation and an atmosphere of general disappointment, it is easy to justify any decision that seems to bring immediate benefit, regardless of non-compliance with laws and procedures. However, laws and procedures exist precisely to protect citizens from the abuse of power. When they are violated for political reasons, we may gain something today, but tomorrow we lose security, justice, and equality before the law. Therefore, protecting procedure is at the same time protecting the law, the institutions, and the interests of citizens,” the statement reads.

It further notes that, according to the Supreme Court ruling, members of the government whose parliamentary mandates were confirmed thereby lost their executive mandates and no longer have authority to make decisions.

For that reason, the Institute considers their actions an usurpation of office and deems that decisions adopted under such circumstances are unlawful.

It is added that the caretaker government adopted today the Draft Budget for 2026, although doing so is contrary to the Law on Government, which it itself enacted.

“Article 31 of the Law on Government defines the limitations of a caretaker government, including a prohibition on adopting draft laws. Although there are two exceptions to this rule — one of them concerning budget adoption — these, according to the wording of the law, apply exclusively to a ‘resigned government,’ not to a ‘government whose mandate has expired.’ Article 30.2 clearly defines what constitutes a ‘resigned government.’ Furthermore, paragraph 5 of Article 31 emphasizes that the limitations of this article also apply to a ‘government whose mandate has expired’ until a new government is elected, which means that such a government is bound by restrictions and does not enjoy exceptional powers, including the adoption of a budget,” the Institute clarified.

The current caretaker government, it underlined, did not emerge from the present parliamentary convocation, but from the previous one.

Since it was not elected by the current Assembly, it cannot propose its budget either, which is why the Institute believes that Parliament should refuse to consider the budget proposed by the government.

“However, the unlawfulness does not end there. Within the same budget vote, the government also approved a proposal to increase the work-experience allowance from 0.25 to 0.5 percent. We remind that this allowance previously stood at 0.5 percent, but that the Law on Salaries in the Public Sector — adopted by this very government — reduced that rate. The Constitutional Court found that provision unconstitutional and ordered the Assembly to make the necessary amendments by 1 August 2024. Neither the government nor the previous Assembly did so, thereby violating the Constitutional Court’s ruling. As a result, the courts have been flooded with lawsuits from citizens seeking to exercise their rights,” the statement recalls.

It stresses that today the government decided to include this issue in the budget, even though it can only be resolved through the Law on Salaries and in accordance with the Constitutional Court’s ruling — thus, according to KLI, once again violating the Constitution and the law.

“The same applies to the decision introducing a 13th salary. Such a matter cannot be regulated by a mere government decision; it requires systemic amendments to the basic laws. Moreover, before adopting such a measure, a detailed economic analysis of its potential consequences should be conducted, taking into account social justice, because it is not fair to equate state officials with high salaries and those with low incomes. According to the government’s proposal, both groups would receive a 13th salary, which is legally and conceptually wrong and could lead to a violation of the principle of equal treatment,” the Institute emphasized.

Regarding the increase in the minimum wage, the Institute stated that Minister Hekuran Murati’s claim that the decision was made because there was no proposal from the Socio-Economic Council is incorrect.

The Institute considers the government’s decisions to increase pensions and child allowances — adopted on the eve of the second round of local elections and amid announcements of possible parliamentary elections — to be openly pre-electoral. It recalled that Prime Minister Albin Kurti himself had previously declared that he would not raise salaries ahead of election campaigns, as former governments had done.

“Undertaking such actions without legal authority, according to the Supreme Court ruling, constitutes the criminal offense of abuse of official position or authority, as defined in Article 414 of the Criminal Code. That article stipulates that ‘an official who, by using his position or authority, exceeds his powers or fails to perform official duties with the intent to obtain any benefit for himself or another, cause damage to another, or violate another’s rights, shall be punished by imprisonment from one to eight years.’ In this case, government officials, by using their position and exceeding their authority, acted with a clear pre-election motive, which constitutes a personal benefit in the sense of the mentioned article, thereby fulfilling the elements of a criminal offense. Therefore, the Institute calls on the Special Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Kosovo to take action and initiate proceedings against those responsible,” the Kosovo Law Institute concluded in its statement.