Constitutional undermines Supreme decision on free energy market, issue returns to review

It's about the Cli322/25 case, won before the Constitutional Court by the Basha LLC Legal Office, which represented the client in this procedure. In this case, the Constitutional Court estimated that the Supreme Court had violated the right to effective access to the court, refusing to examine in the substance an indictment involving a Guide issued by the Energy Regulatory Office (ZRRE).

The convention was linked to an ZERE guide that, according to claims presented in court, had produced direct legal and economic consequences for economic operators, affecting their transition from the universal power supply service to the free market.

According to claims submitted by the prosecution side, the guide had changed to the substance the criteria set out with the Law on Electric Energy, despite having been presented as a guiding character document. For this reason, legitimacy and its effects were required to be thoroughly examined by the courts.

However, the Supreme Court had refused to examine the case in the substance, focusing mainly on the judicial form of the act and assessing that it did not constitute acts that could be contested in judicial procedure.

In its judgment, the Constitutional Court stressed that courts cannot be limited to naming or forming an act, but they also need to analyze the real legal effects it produces. According to her, the approach followed by the Supreme Court had been too formalistic and had not addressed the concrete impact the guide could have on the rights and legal interests of the party.

The Constitution estimated that failure to examine the substance of claims and focus only on the form of the document had violated the right to effective access to the court, guaranteed with the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo and European standards for human rights.

As a result, the Constitutional Court rendered the Supreme Court's decision invalid. 24/2025 and ordered the return of the case for review.

This act is considered important not only for the parties involved in this case, but also for the development of constitutional jurisdiction in Kosovo. It reaffirms the principle that judicial protection of rights should not be hampered by procedural formalisms when real legal rights and interests are at stake.

Court officials estimate that the decision sends a clear message that institutions and courts should assess the specific content and effects of administrative and regulatory acts, not only their form, especially when they can directly affect the judicial and economic position of citizens or economic operators.

Legal Office representatives Basha Kraja LLC have estimated that the bias constitutes an important step in advancing constitutional principles related to access to justice and effective judicial protection of rights, stressing that justice cannot be limited only to procedural formalisms when an act produces concrete legal and economic consequences.