01.07.2025. » 13:04 | ACDC
Initiative to Submit a Request to the Constitutional Court for a Review of Legality
Dear Mr. Qeljaj,
On behalf of the undersigned civil society organizations, we address you with this initiative to submit a request to the Constitutional Court for the assessment of the constitutionality of Article 32.1 of the Law on Notary (06/L-010). We believe that the mentioned article is not in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution of Kosovo, which guarantees the equal use of Albanian and Serbian as official languages in Kosovo. We also believe that the current notarial practice in Kosovo is not aligned with the provisions of the Constitution, the Law on the Use of Languages, nor with the prohibition of discrimination guaranteed by the Constitution of Kosovo and international human rights conventions.
The aforementioned Article 32.1 of the Law on Notary stipulates that “All notarial documents shall be issued in either the Albanian or Serbian language, depending on which language the notary preparing the document knows better.” In our view, this provision directly contradicts Article 5.1 of the Constitution of Kosovo. Therefore, we consider it necessary to amend and supplement this provision to prescribe that “notarial documents shall be issued in the language of the party,” as is required of all institutions providing public services.
Furthermore, paragraphs 2 and 3 of Article 32 of the Law on Notary state that, at the municipal level, parties have the right to request a copy of the document in the language of their choice and to have a translator present during the drafting of the document. However, in practice, this right has been reduced from a right to merely a possibility, as parties are required to pay for the services of a translator, specifically a certified court interpreter.
In this regard, we emphasize that the Constitution of Kosovo stipulates that: “The official languages in the Republic of Kosovo are Albanian and Serbian” (Article 5.1). Additionally, the Law on the Use of Languages (02/L-037) prescribes that “Albanian and Serbian and their alphabets are official languages in Kosovo and have equal status in Kosovo institutions” (Article 2.1). Based on our analysis of the Constitution, the relevant laws, and notarial practices in Kosovo, we have concluded that the right of Serbs to use Serbian as an official language is being violated—despite it being guaranteed by the Constitution of Kosovo.
In connection with the above, we also emphasize that the practice of notaries in Kosovo systematically discriminates against non-majority communities, especially the Serbian community, because notarial documents are issued exclusively in Albanian, while the translation into Serbian is the responsibility of the party itself. This appears to result from the vague language of Article 32 of the Law on Notary, which gives notaries the discretion to decide in which of the two official languages to issue the document, without requiring that translations into the other official language—Serbian in these cases—be covered by the Kosovo budget.
Accordingly, we conclude that the constitutionally guaranteed right to receive services in the Serbian language, as an equal official language in Kosovo, is being restricted by the obligation to pay for the services of court interpreters. This includes oral translation of documents, as well as written translations upon the party’s request. We note that Article 2.1 of the Law on Notary states that “Notary is a public service carried out by notaries appointed by the Minister of Justice (hereinafter: the Minister) in accordance with the provisions of this law.” This provision aligns with the fact that notarial services have been delegated to notaries by the courts in Kosovo.
Therefore, all institutions providing public services in Kosovo are obliged to provide them in both official languages equally, as stipulated in the Constitution of Kosovo and the Law on the Use of Languages in Kosovo. Any practice to the contrary constitutes a violation of constitutionally and legally guaranteed rights, as well as discrimination prohibited by both the Constitution of Kosovo and international conventions.
Considering the above, we propose the following:
- Submission of a Request to the Constitutional Court to assess the constitutionality of Article 32.1 of the Law on Notary, in accordance with Article 113.2.1 of the Constitution of Kosovo.
- An initiative to amend and supplement the Law on Notary, specifically Article 32.1, to prescribe that notarial documents must be issued in the language of the party/parties.
- A letter to the relevant institutions regarding the obligation to provide public services in the Serbian language, specifically to the following institutions: the Government of Kosovo, the Ministry of Justice, the Notary Chamber, and finally, all notaries in Kosovo.
We await your response to this initiative and thank you in advance.
In North Mitrovica,
June 25, 2025.
Signatories of the initiative:
- NGO Advocacy Center for Democratic Culture ( ACDC)
- NGO Aktiv
- NGO Center for Affirmative Social Action (CASA)
- NGO New Social Initiative (NSI)
- NGO Institute for Territorial Economic Development ( InTER )
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