‘Judicial Activism’ or Constitutional Interpretation?: An Analysis of the Workings of the Constitutional Court of Kosovo

Abstract

The article is an analysis of the workings of the Constitutional Court of Kosovo and investigates judicial activism of the Court. The Constitutional Court is established in the new Constitution of Kosovo; it is empowered with legal authority to review decisions and laws adopted by the Assembly of Kosovo regarding their constitutionality, and the constitutionality of laws or acts of the Government and institutions of public authority. The Court has broad legal authority to protect rights under the constitution, through broad ranging instruments for protecting those human rights guaranteed to all in Kosovo, including protection of ethnic minorities. The jurisdiction of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Kosovo is wider, in scope than any other in the region of the Balkans: modeled upon the German Constitutional Court and it has a jurisdiction almost over every aspect of the actions of public authority. Therefore its study might be especially useful for comparative studies of the constitutional transformation and judicial empowerment in the countries in transition.