The Supreme Court of Kosovo has ruled that paragraph 3 of Article 17 of the Ministry of Internal Affairs’ Administrative Instruction No. 05/2023 on misdemeanor procedures is unlawful and has annulled it. The provision stipulated that a driver’s license could be returned to its holder only after the protective measure banning them from driving had ended.
The ruling was issued by a panel of the Supreme Court in an administrative dispute, following a lawsuit filed by 28 plaintiffs against the Ministry of Internal Affairs – Kosovo Police. The panel partially upheld the claim seeking the partial annulment of the normative bylaw.
Të lidhura
None found
In the Supreme Court’s assessment, the police’s temporary seizure of a driver’s license and a protective measure banning a person from driving are two separate legal instruments and cannot be treated as a single measure.
Based on Article 244 of Law No. 08/L-186 on Road Traffic Rules, the court found that the police may temporarily retain a driver’s license for no longer than eight (8) days. For this reason, making the return of the document contingent on the end of the protective measure—which may last three, six or twelve months—was deemed contrary to the law.
The Supreme Court emphasized that a bylaw cannot expand the powers established by law or impose additional restrictions without legal authority.
Meanwhile, the request to annul paragraphs 1 and 2 of Article 17 of the administrative instruction was rejected as unfounded. According to the court, these provisions are procedural and organizational in nature, as they designate the police unit responsible for handling the document and require the issuance of a receipt confirming the temporary seizure of the driver’s license, without exceeding the powers granted by law.
