By Boldnews.al
Wednesday was a day of hearings in the Supreme Court, but all criminal and civil proceedings have been postponed this week. The reason for this unprecedented situation is the lack of judges, which results in the lack of panels.
The Supreme Court should have 19 members, but currently only nine are in office. Under these conditions, the country’s highest court is in complete collapse. Following the blocking of the Constitutional Court, which cannot make decisions because it has only 5 out of 9 members, it is now up to the Supreme Court to suspend its work.
This situation, which is incomparable to any other period of the Albanian state, is the direct responsibility of the ruling majority, which has blocked and slowed down the necessary processes for the appointment of new judges, both in the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court.
The members of the High Court are appointed by the President of Republic on the proposal of the High Judicial Council.
This Council has not yet been formed, as the candidates are still in the process of Vetting. The Transitional Reassessment Commission (VETTING), which already appears to be under government control, has begun the vetting process for candidates, but has so far had no results.
The Supreme Judicial Council may, at best, be established after 6 months. This is because, at the end of the Vetting process, the Judicial Candidates for this Council will be initially voted on by the General Meeting of Judges. The selected list will then be forwarded to the President of the Republic, who will in turn sign the appointments.
Judicial reform, which has provided for the clearing of the ranks of the judiciary, currently puts the judicial system in a state of collapse. The drafters of the Justice Reform, backed by well-funded international projects, have at best not thought of this situation.
Or, at worst, and most likely, the Socialist majority, which commands the “levers” of the new institutions of Justice Reform, has deliberately created this situation. A blocked court system best serves the “Rama” government, which is not immune from the phenomenon of galloping corruption.
