On Tuesday evening, the Association of Journalists of Kosovo, AJK welcomed the Kosovo Supreme Court ruling in favour of the Pristina based think tank Kosovo Law Institute, KLI, which had objected to an internal regulation  change of the Independent Media Commission, IMC, from January 2025—a change that resulted in the dismissal of the IMC’s chairman.

The AJK announced on Facebook that it “considered the change of regulation illegal, and consequently it considered the election of Mr. [Besnik] Berisha as head of this independent institution to be illegal.” 

“KLI, with the support of civil society organizations, filed a lawsuit after the IMC amended the internal regulation in order to dismiss Jeton Mehmeti from the post of chairman and named Besnik Berisha instead of him,” AGK explained, welcoming the Supreme Court’s decision. 

In its ruling, the Kosovo Supreme Court stated that “although it was called an internal act, the regulation actually has a normative nature, as it regulates a general matter of institutional character affecting the way [the IMC]functions, specifically the procedure for electing the chairperson.”

“An act like this one—with general implications and applicability to future cases—can only be approved with clear legal authorisation and after consultation with the public, in accordance with established standards of legality and transparency,” the court decision explains.

 The revision of the IMC regulations on January 17, 2025, allowed for the election of a new chairperson or vice-chairperson up to one month before the expiration of the current chairperson’s term, a move that resulted in former chairman Jeton Mehmeti’s removal and Besnik Berisha’s appointment amid public concern over political interference.

The Kosovo Supreme Court further concluded that the regulation was passed “in violation of the principles of the rule of law, transparency, and public participation.”

In April 2025, Kosovo’s Constitutional Court also annulled the Law on the Independent Media Commission, IMC, ruling that several of its provisions are incompatible with the Constitution. This decision followed numerous complaints over the Law’s provisions from opposition parties and media organisations. 

The Law on the IMC was approved by Kosovo’s Parliament in July 2024, without the participation of opposition parties in the vote. It expanded the IMC’s authority to include online media that produce video content—whereas previously  its licensing and regulatory powers were limited to traditional audiovisual media. 

The IMC, established in 2005, is the primary regulatory body responsible for overseeing the broadcasting frequency spectrum in Kosovo.