Grands colloques - Les Cours constitutionnelles, garantie de la qualité démocratique des sociétés ? - 56

ARTA RAMA - KOSOVO

on constitutionalism, are nowhere unknown."7A report by Justice Baer
from the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany illustrated perfectly
the current challenges of constitutionalism and the role of the constitutional courts in that regard. She made an important distinction between
"an attack" and a "critique", by emphasizing that the latter is needed and
the Courts should listen to it; whilst the former is an inappropriate way of
criticizing Courts for delivering what they are mandated to.
In connection with this important distinction, I want to move the
discussion to the scene in Kosovo. We will soon complete the first 10-year
circle of constitutional review adjudication since the adoption of the new
Constitution and the establishment of the Constitutional Court. During
this period, the Constitutional Court issued highly delicate and important
decisions which, on different instances, made one or the other political
party satisfied or dissatisfied.
The expression of dissatisfaction was at times harsh; but, I cannot recall
many situations where such expression could qualify as an "attack" on
the Court as it happened for instance, with the UK Supreme Court and
the ECtHR last year, following their respective unpopular decisions with
respect to Brexit and prisoners right to vote.
The most harsh instance, which could qualify more as an "attack"
rather than a "critique" was the occasion when after a decision of the
Constitutional Court, a political party organized a protest which ended
before the doors of the Constitutional Court. On that day, paint color was
thrown on the building of the Constitutional Court as a means of protest.
As far as the so-called "critique of reasoning" is concerned, we do not
feel particularly satisfied with the coverage and the amount of academic
critique that we get. There are not many authors or academics that write
about our decisions and publish a "critique of reasoning", a critique which
is always worth listening. For instance, the ECtHR receives, at times, an
overwhelming amount of academic critique which I consider it has helped
the ECtHR to fine-tune its jurisprudence over the years. In line with that,
I would consider that a more substantial critique of reasoning, from the
political parties, academia, the media and others, would help Courts in
performing their mandate even better.
I ought to emphasize a very important point here. Despite the fact that
the Constitutional Court of Kosovo faces criticism at particular times; its
decisions are respected and complied with by all parties involved, including
public institutions which are bound to implement them. The judicial culture
whereby the finality of the decisions of the Constitutional Court must be
7. See 16th meeting on the Joint Council on Constitutional Justice, 30 July 2017.

Grands colloques - Les Cours constitutionnelles, garantie de la qualité démocratique des sociétés ?

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