Ulsi Manja has sparked heated debates at the first meeting of the Justice Appointments Council, aiming to block the appointment of new Constitutional Court judges. He has clashed with some of the members of the EED and with the People’s Advocate, Erinda Ballanca, over how the institution works.
Manja requested that the members of the ECHR first pass the Vetering and then begin the procedures for the election of three new members of the Constitutional Court. This position of Manja is completely opposite to what he held for the appointment of the Interim Attorney General, Arta Marku. The latter, an old acquaintance of Ulsi Manja, is still unoccupied, even though he has been in office for over three months.
Ombudsman Erinda Ballanca has debated with the chairman of the Law Commission, stating that the procedure proposed by Manja delays filling vacancies in the Constitutional Court, which is currently collapsing. Currently, the Constitutional Court operates with 6 out of 9 members, negatively affecting the normal performance of this very important institution in the state pyramid.
Boldnews.al learned part of the debates held at the first meeting of the Justice Appointments Council, which are summarized as follows:
Ulsi Manja (Chairman of the Law Commission): I am of the opinion that you, as a member of the Justice Appointments Council, should first go through the vetting process and then start the procedures for the verification of candidacies for new members of the Constitutional Court. Justice reform has foreseen that members of the KED take precedence over the Vetering process. Therefore, let’s wait for the results of the Vet to come out and then follow the procedures that the law has charged you.
Erinda Ballanca (Ombudsman): I am totally against the position presented by Mr. Manja. His request postpones the process of selecting members of the Constitutional Court. The Vetting process for KED members has begun, but it may take a long time. We do not have the luxury of waiting until the Wetting process is completed, as this will block the functioning of the Constitutional Court. This court is currently in complete collapse, as it lacks 3 members.
Vitore Tusha (Member of KED, Constitutional Court): I do not see any problem for the KED to function while the Veting procedure is in progress. We have functioning institutions today, though they have not yet transitioned to Wetting. The Constitutional Court is functioning, even though its members are still undergoing a transitional reassessment.
Artan Broci (President of the KED, Supreme Court): I think it is important to start with the drafting of the Rules of Procedure on how the Appointments Council will function. In the meantime, as for today’s discussions, we also send a letter to the Independent Qualification Commission to expedite the transitional reassessment process of KED members. We discuss these issues again at the next meeting of the Justice Appointments Council.
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The Justice Appointments Council (KED) is one of the institutions created after the Justice Reform. It consists of 9 members, all judges and prosecutors. The Law Commission and the Ombudsman have an observing role. The KED verifies the candidacies for members of the Constitutional Court and the High Justice Inspectorate before they are voted in Parliament.
