logo czasopisma

Artykuły

Tom 62 Nr 3 (2026): Prawo i Więź

Constitutional Activism and Democratic Consolidation: The Role of the Constitutional Court of Kosovo

DOI:
https://doi.org/10.36128/6g2cc447
Przesłane
13 maja 2025
Opublikowane
24-07-2026

Abstrakt

This paper examines the evolving role of the Constitutional Court of Kosovo in shaping democratic governance through constitutional adjudication. Focusing on its jurisprudence on presidential elections and government formation, it analyses how constitutional procedures, voting thresholds, and institutional mandates have been interpreted in a fragile post-conflict context. This paper argues that the Court has played a decisive role in resolving political impasses by clarifying constitutional ambiguities and enforcing procedural discipline where political institutions have failed to act. Drawing on theories of judicial activism and procedural constitutionalism, this paper contends that the Court has functioned as a stabilising force in Kosovo’s constitutional order. While some decisions reflect a strict formalist approach, others demonstrate adaptive reasoning aimed at safeguarding democratic continuity and constitutional legitimacy. It concludes that constitutional activism has contributed to democratic consolidation, though its long-term sustainability depends on a balanced relationship between judicial authority, political responsibility, and constitutional reform.

Bibliografia

  1. Ackerman Bruce, We the People: Foundations. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1991.
    Pokaż w Google Scholar
  2. Albert Richard, “Constitutional Amendment by Constitutional Desuetude” American Journal of Comparative Law, No. 3 (2014): 641-688. https://ssrn.com/abstract=2378821.
    Pokaż w Google Scholar
  3. Ballingrud Gordon, “Legitimacy in Constitutional Moments” Ratio Juris, No. 4 (2024): 314-329.
    Pokaż w Google Scholar
  4. Bickel Alexander M., The Least Dangerous Branch: The Supreme Court at the Bar of Politics. 2nd ed. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1986.
    Pokaż w Google Scholar
  5. Capussela Andrea Lorenzo, “A Critique of Kosovo’s Internationalised Constitutional Court” European Diversity and Autonomy Papers EDAP, 4 (2014): 29-38.
    Pokaż w Google Scholar
  6. Capussela Andrea Lorenzo, State-Building in Kosovo: Democracy, Corruption and the EU in the Balkans. London: I.B. Tauris, 2015.
    Pokaż w Google Scholar
  7. César Milton, Jiménez Ramírez, “Weak Procedural Constitutionalism: The Judicial Process as Legitimacy of Judicial Review” ICL Journal, No. 1 (2024): 59-76.
    Pokaż w Google Scholar
  8. Constitutional Law in Kosovo: Commentary of the Constitution, ed. Wolfgang Benedek et al. Baden-Baden: Nomos, 2012.
    Pokaż w Google Scholar
  9. Diermeier Daniel, Hülya Eraslan, Antonio Merlo, “The Effects of Constitutions on Coalition Governments in Parliamentary Democracies” PIER Working Paper, 03-037 (2003).
    Pokaż w Google Scholar
  10. Ganev Venelin I., “Post-Accession Hooliganism: Democratic Governance in Bulgaria and Romania after 2007” East European Politics and Societies, No. 1 (2012): 26-44.
    Pokaż w Google Scholar
  11. Ginsburg Tom, Judicial Review in New Democracies: Constitutional Courts in Asian Cases. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003.
    Pokaż w Google Scholar
  12. Hasani Enver, “Constitutional Protection of the Head of State: The Case of Kosovo” ICL Journal, No. 2 (2013): 128-149.
    Pokaż w Google Scholar
  13. Hasani Enver, “Judicial Review of Democracy: Maintenance of Democracy as a Functionalist Mission in the Jurisprudence of the Constitutional Court of Kosovo” Comparative Southeast European Studies, No. 4 (2020): 530-553.
    Pokaż w Google Scholar
  14. Hasani Enver, “The Role and Position of the Constitutional Courts in Society: The Case of Kosovo” University of Pittsburgh Law Review, 74 (2013): 665-669.
    Pokaż w Google Scholar
  15. Hasani Enver, “The Role of the Constitutional Court in the Development of the Rule of Law in Kosovo” Review of Central and East European Law, 43 (2018): 274-313.
    Pokaż w Google Scholar
  16. Hirschl Ran, Towards Juristocracy: The Origins and Consequences of the New Constitutionalism. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2004.
    Pokaż w Google Scholar
  17. Islami Iliriana, “Building Constitutionalism in Kosovo” Law & Justice Review, No. 1 (2010): 127-133.
    Pokaż w Google Scholar
  18. Istrefi Remzije, Bekim Sejdiu, “Protection of the Rule of Law as a Constitutional Principle and Individual Right by the Constitutional Court of Kosovo” Pravni vjesnik, No. 2 (2024): 87-106.
    Pokaż w Google Scholar
  19. Judicial Law-Making in European Constitutional Courts, ed. Monika Florczak-Wątor. Abingdon: Routledge, 2020.
    Pokaż w Google Scholar
  20. Klare Karl, “Legal Culture and Transformative Constitutionalism” South African Journal on Human Rights, No. 1 (1998): 146-188.
    Pokaż w Google Scholar
  21. Korenica Fisnik, “«Advise and Rule» or «Rule by Advising»: The Changing Nature of the Advisory Jurisdiction of the Constitutional Court of Kosovo” German Law Journal, No. 8 (2020): 1570-1585.
    Pokaż w Google Scholar
  22. Landau Landau David, “Constitutional Courts and Stabilisation of Politics in Fragile Democracies” Berkeley Journal of International Law, No. 2 (2010): 227-255.
    Pokaż w Google Scholar
  23. Mansfield Nicolas, Creating a Constitutional Court: Lessons from Kosovo. East-West Management Institute, 2013.
    Pokaż w Google Scholar
  24. McGinnis John O., “Civil Rights and Constitutional Moments” Law & Liberty, 11 May 2014.
    Pokaż w Google Scholar
  25. Nowak Krystian, “The Constitutional Court of Kosovo – Introductory Remarks” Przegląd Prawa Konstytucyjnego, No. 58 (2020): 499-500.
    Pokaż w Google Scholar
  26. Qerimi Qerim, Vigan Qorrolli, “A Constitutional Tradition in the Making: The Presidents’ Cases and the Role of Kosovo’s Constitutional Court in the Process of Democratic Consolidation” ICL Journal, No. 1 (2013): 49-66. Doi: 10.1515/icl-2013-0106.
    Pokaż w Google Scholar
  27. Rosenfeld Michel, “Constitutional Adjudication in Europe and the United States: Paradoxes and Contrasts” International Journal of Constitutional Law, No. 4 (2006): 618-651.
    Pokaż w Google Scholar
  28. Rrahmani Bashkim, “Judicial Review and Political (In)Stability in Kosovo” Eastern Journal of European Studies, No. 2 (2021): 169-189.
    Pokaż w Google Scholar
  29. Rrahmani Bashkim, “Judicial Review and Political (In)stability in Kosovo” Eastern Journal of European Studies, No. 2 (2021): 169–189.
    Pokaż w Google Scholar
  30. Sadurski Wojciech, Constitutional Justice, East and West: Democratic Legitimacy and Constitutional Courts in Post-Communist Europe. The Hague: Kluwer Law International, 2002.
    Pokaż w Google Scholar
  31. Sadurski Wojciech, Rights Before Courts: A Study of Constitutional Courts in Postcommunist States of Central and Eastern Europe. Dordrecht: Springer, 2005.
    Pokaż w Google Scholar
  32. Scaccia Gino, “Constitutional Values and Judge-Made Law” The Italian Law Journal, No. 3 (2017): 177-192.
    Pokaż w Google Scholar
  33. Selimi Behar, Murat Jashari, “Constitutional Interpretation or Construction of the Government-Formation Process in Kosovo” Zbornik Pravnog fakulteta u Zagrebu, No. 6 (2021): 867-890.
    Pokaż w Google Scholar
  34. The Transformation of Constitutional Law in Post-Communist Europe, ed. András Jakab, Arthur Dyevre. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019.
    Pokaż w Google Scholar
  35. Warren Christie S., “Building a Constitutional Court in a Post-Conflict Setting: The Case of Kosovo” Texas International Law Journal, 49 (2014).
    Pokaż w Google Scholar

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.