The Constitution that is not read equally by everyone

2026-04-09 15:17:59, Kosova & Bota CNA

Written 18 years ago, the Constitution of Kosovo , as the highest legal act, aims to define the rules of the political game.

But, in Kosovo, the game has often been stopped to be clarified by the Constitutional Court.

From June 2025 to January 2026, the Constitutional Court responded to five cases related only to the issue of the constitution of the Assembly of Kosovo.

Meanwhile, it also reviewed three other cases on political issues last month.

The court annulled President Vjosa Osmani's decree to dissolve the Assembly ; rejected the request of the Speaker of the Assembly, Albulena Haxhiu, regarding the non-participation of the deputies in the session for the president and declared Osmani's request regarding the appointment of members of the Central Election Commission inadmissible .

Is the Constitution so unclear, or is the possibility of interpretation by the Court being used for political purposes?

In the opinion of experts on the Constitution, this is not a black and white issue.

Visar Morina, a professor of Constitutional Law at the University of Pristina, tells Radio Free Europe that the Constitution of Kosovo is not unclear in its entirety, but he estimates that there are some more generalized formulations that are still not the main reason for the large number of cases sent to the Constitutional Court.

He considers that one of the circumstances that influenced the increase in cases for review is the fact that the Constitution regulates fundamental issues of the state, such as the formation of institutions, the limitation of power, competencies, deadlines - norms that, according to him, in some cases are not understood equally by all politicians.

“When political dialogue and institutional compromise are lacking, then constitutional dilemmas naturally shift to the Constitutional Court,” says Morina, calling it a normal action in a constitutional democracy.

The precision of the language in which a constitution is written is considered to leave less room for its rules to be interpreted in different ways.

“When constitutional provisions are not sufficiently clear, they naturally create opportunities for different readings by political and institutional actors, increasing the potential for constitutional disputes,” he says.

But, according to Professor Morina, even carefully drafted constitutions cannot completely avoid interpretations by the court.

After all, constitutional interpretation is an essential function of constitutional courts, he says.

In addition to political processes within institutions, the Constitutional Court judges also had dozens of Assembly laws to review.

Thirteen of them – including the Law on the Bureau for Verification and Confiscation of Unjustified Assets – that were approved by MPs in December 2024, they overturned at the beginning of 2026.

The court said that the laws were not in accordance with the country’s Constitution, after finding that the rules on governance, separation of powers, values, exercise of function, rules of procedure and committees had been violated when MPs had approved them in the Assembly.

Beyond laws, constitutional interpretations in Kosovo’s political history have also brought down presidents and governments.

In 2010, then-president Fatmir Sejdiu resigned after the Court found that he had violated the Constitution by holding both the positions of president and leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo.

The following year, the Court removed President Behgjet Pacolli from office , as the form of his election had been unconstitutional.

In 2020 , the Government of Avdullah Hoti was overthrown , after its election was deemed unconstitutional.

Professor Morina says that it has evolved continuously, both through written amendments and through interpretations by the Constitutional Court, which have subsequently become precedents for similar circumstances.

According to him, what needs to be changed depends on the priorities of the state and society, as well as external factors, such as the European integration process or aspirations for membership in international organizations.

The Assembly of Kosovo adopted the Constitution on 9 April 2008, and it entered into force two months later.

Changing the Constitution requires a double vote: agreement by two-thirds of all deputies, and by two-thirds of deputies from minority communities. So, any change requires broad consensus.

In a reality where the Constitution is not read the same by everyone, the Constitutional Court often remains the place where political disagreements end. /REL