The Ombudsperson, in the capacity of a friend of the Court (Amicus Curiae), has delivered to the Basic Court in Prishtina the Legal Opinion related to the infringement of blind persons’ rights, actually failure to respect legal provisions for their exemption from immovable property taxes, according to the complaint of the Association of Gjakova Blind Persons.

The Ombudsperson, in the course of case review has observed that the Gjakova Municipality is not implementing provisions of the Law No. 04/L-092, on Blind Persons, according to which, blind persons are exempt from immovable property taxes. Further the Ombudsperson notes that in some municipalities blind persons are exempt from taxes on immovable property according to provisions of the Law on Blind Persons. Additionally, the Ombudsperson notes that reasoning for failure to implement provisions of the Law on Blind Persons provided by the Gjakova Municipality is grounded on the stand of the Ministry of Finance, according to which, Municipalities of Republic of Kosovo are obliged to implement the Law No.03/L-204 on Taxes on Immovable Property, amended and supplemented by the Law No.04/L-100, by disregarding in this way provisions of the Law on Blind Persons. Recommendation Letter has been sent by the Ombudsperson to the Minister of Local Government Administration (MLGA) with a recommendation that in compliance with responsibilities and authorizations derived by the Law, issue a Circular, by which exemption from immovable property taxes is requested for all blind persons, in compliance with provisions of Article 6 of the Law on Blind Persons, without any differentiation. But no response has been served to the Ombudsperson from MLGA until present.

On the other hand, the Association of Gjakova Blind Persons has submitted a lawsuit to the Basic Court in Prishtina, within the Department of Administrative Affairs versus the decision of Gjakova Municipality, by which exemption of blind persons from payment of immovable property taxes is rejected and the court proceedings is currently taking place in this Court.

The Ombudsperson in the capacity of a Friend of the Court (Amicus Curiae), based on Article 16, paragraph 9, of the Law No. 05/L-019 on Ombudsperson, according to which the Ombudsperson may appear in the capacity of the friend of the court (amicus curiae) in judicial processes dealing with human rights, has delivered a Legal Opinion to the Basic Court in Prishtina, which contains a legal analyses and findings of the Ombudsperson related to the given case.

On this occasion, the Ombudsperson has pointed out that the principle of rule of law, as fundamental principle of the Constitution, obliges the state bodies to abide/ implement the legislation approved by the country’s legislation. Further, the Ombudsperson stressed that enforcement of the principle of legality and the principle of rule of law by the administrative and judicial bodies provide guarantees through which an efficient legal system is build, which provides legal certainty for its citizens.
This Legal Opinion has been disseminated to media and was published on OI official web page at: LINK