Round table on non-compliance with Constitutional Court decisions: They must not remain only on paper, everyone must respect them

Representatives of political parties and civil society expressed concern over the erosion of the Constitutional Court’s authority and the consequences such a practice has for the functioning of the rule of law in Kosovo. At a round table organized by the Kosovo Law Institute, participants stressed that Constitutional Court decisions must not remain only on paper, but must be implemented by all institutions, Ekonomia Online reports.

Senior researcher at the Kosovo Law Institute Naim Jakaj said that the failure to implement Constitutional Court decisions was a problem that went beyond individual cases, as it undermined both the authority of the institution and citizens’ rights.

“In the case concerning the Law on Salaries, the Kosovo Assembly failed to fulfil its obligation to amend the provision on the seniority allowance within the prescribed deadline. In addition, in the case concerning the constitution of the Assembly, the Constitutional Court found in August 2025 that MPs had failed to implement its previous judgment. These cases show that the problem is much broader. Failure to implement Constitutional Court decisions not only undermines its authority, but directly affects citizens’ rights and weakens their trust in state institutions,” Jakaj said.

He noted that an initiative proposing the introduction of criminal liability for failure to implement Constitutional Court decisions had received the support of more than 12,000 citizens and was submitted to the Assembly on October 26.

“The initiative contains two proposals: criminal liability for failure to implement Constitutional Court decisions and criminal liability for the use of public funds to gain an electoral advantage. We will present our analysis of the second issue on November 18. Now that citizens have done their part, it is up to the Assembly to consider this initiative. We expect MPs to take this proposal, and the will expressed by more than 12,000 citizens, seriously. Our goal is not to have as many people convicted as possible, but to have as few Constitutional Court decisions as possible left unimplemented. Constitutional Court decisions must be implemented by everyone, without exception,” Jakaj stressed, according to Ekonomia Online.

Acting President of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) Vlora Citaku said that the obligation to implement Constitutional Court decisions was clearly established by the Constitution and that institutions must comply with them regardless of political differences.

“We can publicly and freely debate the reasoning behind a particular decision, and we can have differing political views on its consequences, but the obligation to implement it applies to everyone. The Democratic Party of Kosovo has exercised its constitutional right to challenge certain laws before the Constitutional Court. In many cases, the Court found constitutional violations and invalidated laws adopted by the majority. I regard these as political victories not only for the PDK, but also for the institutions of the Republic,” Citaku said.

She stressed that respect for Constitutional Court decisions must be the same standard for all political parties, including the PDK, referring to cases in which laws adopted by the Assembly had been challenged.

She recalled that the Constitutional Court had previously found violations in certain provisions of laws concerning the verification and confiscation of officials’ assets, as well as the Independent Media Commission.

“We have often seen the importance of constitutional review during the numerous processes of constituting the Assembly since 2025. Nevertheless, I accept the same standard for my own party: when a Constitutional Court decision is not in line with the PDK’s political position, the party is still obliged to respect it,” Citaku emphasized.

Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) MP Armend Zemaj said that Constitutional Court decisions could not be treated as political recommendations, adding that the absence of clear provisions in the Criminal Code governing failure to implement such decisions was also problematic.

“In a democratic state, Constitutional Court decisions should not be regarded as political recommendations, but as legally binding decisions that must be respected by public and state authorities alike. How can we further strengthen them in that regard and within the framework of this discussion? The Constitutional Court has its role and refers cases involving non-implementation of its decisions to the prosecution service, but we have a problem with Kosovo’s Criminal Code. As Naim Jakaj correctly pointed out, it addresses the non-enforcement of court decisions, but the State Prosecutor’s Office has never managed to prosecute, interpret or otherwise pursue cases concerning the failure to implement Constitutional Court decisions,” Zemaj said.

Alliance MP Burim Ramadani assessed that failure to implement Constitutional Court decisions had become a concerning practice that also affected respect for civil and human rights in Kosovo.

“What we are increasingly seeing on a daily basis is that failure to implement decisions has become normalized, both at the level addressed by your initiative and in other areas concerning the civil and human rights of citizens of the Republic of Kosovo. This ranges from the confiscation of driver’s licenses, which constituted a serious violation of fundamental human rights without a court decision, all the way to the most serious level—the deliberate failure to implement Constitutional Court judgments—which, as you will agree, has been documented both statistically and through specific cases. This did not begin today or yesterday; it has reached the point where political interpretations, debates and assessments of Constitutional Court decisions have become more important than the judgments themselves. In that sense, political interpretations and debates over what the Constitutional Court has decided appear to carry greater weight than the decisions themselves,” Ramadani said.

He noted that the Constitutional Court was the guardian of constitutional interpretation.

“The absence of a public political position from the Kosovo Government sends a negative signal. To me, it is a negative signal because your initiative has received the support of a large number of citizens and has been the subject of continuous public debate. It would be extremely irresponsible for the Government not to have a public political position on this issue. I believe that the absence of such a position is, in itself, a position,” Ramadani said.