Gruda: The Constitutional Chamber in The Hague is stripped of competence to review the constitutionality of the law, in any form

The MP of the Democratic Party of Kosovo, Përparim Gruda, seeing the many reactions regarding the possibility that, after the approval of the changes to the Law on the Specialist Court, the law might be sent to the Specialist Constitutional Chamber in The Hague and eventually repealed, explained that with the changes we have proposed in the law, the Specialised Chamber of the Constitutional Court has expressly been stripped of competence to review the constitutionality of the law, in any form.

“Constitutional Amendment No. 24 provides:

A Specialist Chamber of the Constitutional Court, composed of three (3) additional international judges appointed in addition to the judges referred to in Article 114 (1), shall decide exclusively on constitutional referrals under Article 113 of the Constitution in relation to the Specialist Chambers and the Specialist Prosecutor’s Office, in accordance with the special law.”

So, the constitutional provision itself links the exercise of this jurisdiction to the special law.

Precisely on this basis, with Article 23 of our draft law we have expressly set the limit of the jurisdiction of the Constitutional Chamber in The Hague. Article 23 provides that it decides only on constitutional referrals arising from the decisions, orders or judgments of the Specialist Chambers and of the Specialist Prosecutor’s Office. Further, the provision states expressly that it “has no jurisdiction for the abstract (preliminary), concrete and incidental review of the constitutionality of laws or of Law No. 05/L-053”.

Indeed, to make the matter completely clear, in Article 23 we have provided that the review of the constitutionality of this law, as well as of the laws amending, supplementing or repealing Law No. 05/L-053, is exercised by the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Kosovo in its regular composition in Pristina, in accordance with Article 113 of the Constitution.

Therefore, according to the proposed changes, the Constitutional Chamber in The Hague will have no jurisdiction to review or repeal this law. It is not a separate Constitutional Court from the Constitutional Court of Kosovo, but a Specialist Chamber with special jurisdiction. The constitutional review of the acts of the Assembly, including these legal changes, remains with the Constitutional Court in its regular composition in Pristina”, Gruda wrote on Facebook.