Kryeziu: Situation surrounding amendments to Specialist Chambers Law unprecedented

Former Constitutional Court judge Kadri Kryeziu said that the developments surrounding the amendments to the Law on the Specialist Chambers were unprecedented, explaining that after the President returned the law to the Assembly for reconsideration, it could not be amended in its current form. Instead, if changes to its content were sought, the legislative procedure would have to start again from the beginning, Dukagjini reports.

Kryeziu said that the President had the right to return a law to the Assembly only once.

“Under the Constitution, Article 80, the President has the right to return a law only once. This means that the law is suspended and a new one has to be adopted. If the Kosovo Assembly does not wish to adopt a new law, then, under the Rules of Procedure, it must vote on the law within four weeks, and it must receive at least 61 votes. This means that the law enters into force directly, without promulgation by presidential decree,” Kryeziu explained.

He described the current developments surrounding the law as unprecedented, noting that there was insufficient procedural and constitutional clarity.

“Either the law has to be amended, in which case the procedure must start again from the beginning, or it must be adopted again with 61 votes and enter into force without the President’s signature,” Kryeziu told Dukagjini.

According to him, the law in its current form cannot be amended because it was suspended after the President returned it to the Assembly. Therefore, if its content is to be changed, a new legislative procedure must be initiated, beginning with the initial parliamentary stages.

“Just as when the procedure was initiated the first time, the law is adopted by the Assembly and goes through the procedures of first and second reading and the competent parliamentary committees. Otherwise, the law in its current form cannot be amended. It can only be put to another vote and adopted with 61 votes,” Kryeziu reiterated.

He believes that the President should have signed the legislative amendments rather than listening to political parties.

“Returning a law is exclusively within her authority, and she should not do so because of political pressure, but only if she herself considers it justified,” Kryeziu said.

He added that there were two constitutional grounds on which the President could return a law: if she assessed that it violated the legal and constitutional order, or if it endangered the rights and freedoms of national minorities.

MPs decided today to place the Draft Law amending and supplementing the Law on the Specialist Chambers and Specialist Prosecutor’s Office on the agenda of the Assembly session, at the request of MP and acting PDK leader Vlora Citaku.

Meanwhile, the continuation of today’s session was postponed until tomorrow after MPs failed to return to the chamber following the break, even after a 30-minute delay.

The amendments to the Law on the Specialist Chambers were adopted at the beginning of last month, but President Justina Shiroka-Pula subsequently returned them to the Assembly for reconsideration.