By Boldnews.al
The Council of Justice Appointments (CED) has finalized the verification of applications for the post of High Justice Inspector, the process of which resulted in the qualification of 4 of the 5 candidates required by the constitutional provisions.
At its Tuesday meeting, the KED decided to allow the jurist Marsida Xhaferllari to run for the post of Chief Justice Inspector. Even after this decision, the KED is expected to reopen the race for the position of head of the structure responsible for inspecting all judges and prosecutors of the Republic of Albania.
The Constitution, in Article 147 / d, provides that “The High Justice Inspector shall be elected from the list of five candidates selected and ranked on the merits by the Council of Judicial Appointments …”.
At the end of a two-month vetting process, the Justice Appointments Council gave only 4 candidates the “green light” to continue the race for Chief Justice Inspector.
In April 2019, the Justice Appointments Council closed the procedure for accepting applications for the High Justice Inspectorate. Thirteen candidates applied for this position.
Of the total, 3 of them resigned before the KED vetting process began. Specifically, they resigned from the race Genci Ismaili, Lefterije Lleshi and Suzana Frashëri.
Further, the Justice Appointments Council decided to ban the nomination of 6 other applicants, namely: Altin Hazizaj, Elira Kokona, Genci Gjonçaj, Klodian Rado, Mimoza Qinami and Zaklina Peto.
In the case of Lawyer Peto, the Justice Appointments Council appears ambiguous in the official announcement, where it informs of the ban on her nomination.
In its public announcement dated 03.08.2019, the KED announces that it has undertaken the procedure of “reviewing the findings in the vetting procedure of candidate Zhaklina Peto for her candidacies in the two vacancies for the Constitutional Court and the High Inspector of Justice”.
In the same notice, the KED states as follows: “Prohibition of the candidacy of candidate Zhaklina Peto for the vacancy announced by the President of the Republic on 07.02.2018 and for the vacancy (early vacancy) announced by The President of the Republic, on 07.02.2018 ”.
Thus, the notice does not specify whether the detention of jurist Zhaklina Peto relates to the two vacancies or only to her application for a position as a member of the Constitutional Court. Keeping in mind that the legal criteria for the two positions are almost identical, it seems that the detention of Zaklina Petos is also related to the race for Chief Justice Inspectorate.
The only ones who have received the “vote” of the Justice Appointments Council to continue the race for Chief Justice Inspector are: Artur Malaj, Artur Metani, Eris Hysi and, most recently, Marsida Xhaferllari.
But, even with two of the “approved” by the EED, the situation is still unclear.
Administrative Appeal Judge Artur Malaj is currently pending before the Special Appeals Panel. Malaj was confirmed in office by the Independent Qualification Commission in July 2018, at the conclusion of the Vetting process.
But both the International Monitoring Operation and the Public Commissioner voiced their opposition to confirmation by Malaj. The Public Commissioner, the institution charged with the law on appealing KPC decisions, filed an appeal with the Special Panel requesting his dismissal.
Artur Malaj’s case is being tried by the KPA and no final decision has been made on his career in the justice system.
Another candidate for Superintendent of Justice, Artur Metani, currently the State’s Attorney, is suspected of failing to meet the formal legal criteria to continue the race.
Boldnews.al has previously reported that Artur Metani is legally barred from attending the race and, moreover, being elected High Inspector of Justice.
In this situation, in the absence of the 5 official candidates according to the constitutional requirements, but also with the possibility of removing both candidates who are currently “qualified” from the race, the Nomination Board will have to reopen the full process for the High Inspector of Justice.
The new procedure is expected to take several more months, further deepening the problems caused by the ill-drafted Justice Reform in Albania.
