Prime Minister Kurti no word of the death of the 26-year-old Conviects: Constitutional Court Decisions Comment

Kurti has interpreted the interpretation of the Constitutional Court as positive for his government, saying no violations of the constitution have been found, despite the Prizren quarantine decision actually being announced, Periscope follows.

In this long status, there has not been a single word about the death of 26-year-old Gjilani who reportedly jumped out of the dorm in Pristina where he was quarantined.

He has also politically attacked opposition MPs for making political calculations.

Full status:

On Constitutional Protection of Citizens' Lives

On April 14th, the Health Ministry issued 38 verdicts for preventing, fighting and eliminating the infectious COVID-19 in all municipalities of the Republic of Kosovo. After reviewing some of these decisions, the Constitutional Court has found that all restrictions on freedom of movement imposed by the Ministry of Health, at least in substance, have been in full accordance with the constitution, including: preventing an extra-time circulation allowed by 90-minutes; stopping circulation in addition to need or essential work; banning access to exits from certain municipalities; stopping driving with separate permits or emergency health cases; preventing the collection of two or more persons; and forcing to cover the nose and mouth during circulation or residence. These restrictions, although challenging for all of us, have also been necessary to ensure the dramatic decline in the number of active cases of COVID-19 during the last days. With the Court's bias, we now have the authoritarian and final confirmation that they have been not only necessary in the health but also fully justified in the constitutional sense.

Along with this historic confirmation, the Court has offered two helpful clarifications. First, the Court has found that an earlier decision by the Health Ministry should not use the “quarantine zone” to appoint a ban on entry and exit from the Prizren municipality. But, as mentioned earlier, the substance of Prizren's municipality proclamation as the “area quarantine”, meaning. Banning access from that municipality, the Court has considered it in full accordance with the Constitution. Second, the Court has found that the fine of physical and legal persons for violating measures to prevent infectious diseases cannot be done without being based on a Assembly law or the act of a Communist Assembly. In fact, for this very reason, the scheme of fines envisioned with the Ministry's decisions has been copied and carried directly by Article 53 of Law No. 02/ L-109 for preventing and combating infectious diseases. To help the Court understand this legal basis more clearly, it may have had to have the Ministry's decisions quoted this provision directly at the disputed location point, not just in their entry section, as is common practice.

These technical-language clarifications, the Government of the Republic of Kosovo will take into account in drafting future decisions, not only in the context of the battle against COVID-19, but in other areas too. Also, the government welcomes the Coven Court's conclusion that the Parliament has so far has not established necessary legal grounds for taking other necessary measures for prevention, combat and elimination of COVID-19. This has directly resulted from the rejection of MPs from our coalition partner and opposition parties to prosecute the bill proposed by the Speaker of the Assembly over the issue. The obstruction of the work of the Parliament on the part of these deputies has markedly made the work of the Government and the Ministry of Health difficult and thus jeopardised the lives and health of the citizens of the Republic. Joining the Constitutional Court's remarks, the government calls on all MPs in the Parliament to put aside political and party calculations and take appropriate steps for the good of citizens, especially at this time of pandemic.