Supreme Court Declares Ministry of Justice’s Lawsuit Against the Bar Association Over Registration Fees Inadmissible

The Supreme Court has decided to dismiss as inadmissible the lawsuit that the Government of the Republic of Kosovo, namely the Ministry of Justice, had filed against the Kosovo Bar Association in relation to registration fees.

The ruling states that the Ministry of Justice, through the State Advocacy Office as its authorized representative, filed the lawsuit against the Kosovo Bar Association on June 12, 2026, reports “Oath for Justice”.

During the preliminary review, the Supreme Court found that the lawsuit submitted was neither clear nor understandable regarding the act being challenged, which according to the court made any further assessment of its merits impossible. For this reason, the Ministry of Justice had been ordered to correct and supplement the lawsuit.

Later, through a submission dated June 18, 2026, the plaintiff supplemented and clarified the statement of claim, asking the Supreme Court to annul as unlawful the amount of the registration costs set by the Kosovo Bar Association.

However, the Supreme Court found that this matter does not fall within its subject-matter jurisdiction.

“During the preliminary review of the lawsuit, it was established that the act contested by the plaintiff in this administrative matter is not a sub-legal act, specifically not an act issued on the basis of the express authorization of a law adopted by the Assembly, as also defined by the provisions of the LCA,” the decision states.

According to the Supreme Court’s reasoning, the lawsuit seeks the annulment of the amount of the registration costs, but these costs are set out in the “Request for registration in the register of lawyers”, which, according to the court, does not meet the conditions to be considered a normative sub-legal act.

“Under Article 10, paragraph 4 of the LCA, the Supreme Court has jurisdiction to examine only: revisions filed against judgments of the second-instance court, which are submitted to the first-instance court, and lawsuits for the annulment of normative sub-legal acts, which are filed directly with this court. Therefore, from the content of the lawsuit it does not appear that the case concerns any normative sub-legal act, nor any revision,” the decision further states.

As a result, the court concluded that the contested act does not contain the elements of a normative sub-legal act. Consequently, the general and specific conditions for further examination were not met, including this court’s legal jurisdiction, while there is also no judgment or case that could be addressed through an extraordinary legal remedy. In these circumstances, the lawsuit was dismissed as inadmissible.

“The Supreme Court, with reference to Article 10, paragraph 4 of the LCA, assessed that this court adjudicates on revision and, as a court of first and sole instance, on claims for the annulment of a normative sub-legal act, while all other lawsuits are adjudicated by the first-instance court as the competent court,” the decision states.

Following this decision, the Kosovo Bar Association also reacted, stating that the Government’s attempt to call the Bar Association’s acts into question did not pass even the initial stage of procedural admissibility.

“The Kosovo Bar Association will not recognize and will not implement any decision, act, or order issued by bodies acting outside their legal competences. Any such intervention is legally unfounded and produces no legal consequences for the Bar Association,” the reaction states.