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The Constitutional Court in Kosovo on Wednesday declared "invalid" the law on the Bureau for the Verification and Confiscation of Unjustifiable Assets, while finding no violation in the law on the minimum wage in Kosovo, prompting different reactions in the country.
Both these laws were sent for review by the opposition parties in the country. The Alliance for the Future of Kosovo sent the law on the minimum wage to the Constitutional Court in July of last year, while the law on the Bureau for the Verification and Confiscation of Unjustified Assets was sent by the Democratic Party of Kosovo for review in February of last year.
In a decision that was published on Wednesday, the Constitutional Court said that in the law on the Bureau for the Verification and Confiscation of Unjustified Assets there are four articles that conflict with the Constitution of Kosovo, underlining that "without their amendment and addition by the Parliament of Kosovo , the Law on the Bureau is declared invalid in its entirety".
The Minister of Justice, Albulena Haxhiu, said in a reaction on social networks that the law was drafted within the highest principles and standards of the European Union, including each recommendation of the Venice Commission. "Despite this, PDK sent this draft law to the Constitutional Court to block and sabotage our judicial reform," she wrote, emphasizing that "5 judges out of 9 in total, decided that the most important law within the anti-corruption package misuse of official duty to declare it invalid".
She strongly criticized the Constitutional Court, saying that some of its judges are trying to subvert the citizens' will for justice. "A handful of people who still serve and owe the old nomenclature, but our fight for reform and the rule of law will not stop. The bureau will be done. Misappropriated public property will be confiscated," she wrote.
Meanwhile, in the decision on the minimum wage law, the Constitutional Court said that there is no violation and that "the law is sent to the president, Vjosa Osmani for promulgation".
The decision was followed by the reaction of the Organization of War Veterans of the former Kosovo Liberation Army. The acting chairman of this organization said that "we will continue the protests against this government which has continuously worked against the war veterans of the KLA and other layers of society".
In the decision of the Constitutional Court, it is stated that "the connection between the amount of pensions of KLA veterans and the amount of the minimum wage in the Republic of Kosovo has not been changed through the disputed law, but since 2017, through the amendment and completion of the Law of Veterans".
Consequently, the decision states, "the relationship between the amount of pensions and the minimum wage is not controversial, because this issue has been resolved through the Law on Veterans of 2017, but it is controversial whether the delays in the implementation of the aforementioned law, namely the obligation of the state to made the final categorization of veterans, may result in "legitimate expectations" for the category of veterans of the KLA".
The law on the minimum wage foresees its increase to 264 euros, from 130 to 170 as it is currently. If this law enters into force, for which the signature of the country's president and publication in the official newspaper is required, veterans will continue to receive 170 euros, which is their current pension.
Veterans' pension, according to the law on this category, is equal to the minimum wage in the country, but the law that will be sent to President Osmani does not include the increase in veterans' pensions.
The new law on the minimum wage envisages the amendment of the Law on veterans, so that, as it is said, "until the final categorization of the list of veterans, the government of Kosovo decides on the amount of pensions determined by this law". / VOA
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