Judge Artur Malaj is facing a Special Appeals Panel request for his dismissal, but in a parallel process underway at the Justice Appointments Council, Malaj took a step toward his ambition to be elected High Inspector of Justice. .
The KED announced on Thursday that the judge of the Administrative Court of Appeal has been allowed to continue the race, after verifications on the legal conditions of the candidacy. Unlike Malaj, two other candidates – Altin Hazizaj and Mimoza Qinami were disqualified from running for the same post.
The race for the High Justice Inspector – one of the key institutions of the new justice architecture has now wrapped up among 6 candidates, out of 13 who expressed interest at the beginning of the year.
Data provided by BIRN show that Judge Artur Malaj competes with State Attorney Artur Metani, Attorney Eris Hysi, Secretary General of the Assembly, Genci Gjonçaj, former Chief Inspector Marsida Xhaferllari and former Judge, currently EURALIUS expert, Klodian Rado.
The case of Judge Malaj, who simultaneously fights against dismissal at the KPA and seeking promotion by the KED, reflects the contradiction of the proceedings as they are currently underway in the context of judicial reform.
Like Malaj, both magistrate candidates for the Constitutional Court, prosecutor Besnik Muçi and Judge Regleta Panajoti moved on to the next stage without a final verdict – and according to Ardian Dvorani, head of the Justice Appointments Council, the process will move forward in their absence.
“The dilemma in Mr Malaj’s case was what to do; to interrupt the process until the decision of the College or we will continue, ”Dvorani told BIRN in a telephone conversation.
“We have not verified anything about the wealth and image of magistrate candidates, as the decision will be made by the veterinary institutions. But the Council has legal deadlines to complete the process and unlike the SPAK, the provisions for the two posts do not provide for a final decision by the vet, “said Dvorani, regretful of the delays.
Allowing or prohibiting candidacy is decided by the Council after a lengthy evaluation procedure on formal criteria, wealth, image and professionalism as well as other prohibitive aspects, such as cooperation with the former State Security. The process however is different for magistrates and magistrate candidates; who are assessed for three of the criteria by the veterinary institutions.
Once the vetting procedure is completed for all candidates, the KED is expected to complete the scoring and ranking process shortly, though Dvorani acknowledges the potential risk of adverse results – from both the College and the KED for the magistrate candidates.
Asked what would happen if the candidates elected by the KED were subsequently dismissed from the College, Dvorani responded that this would probably “do nothing to the process”. He added, however, that the College’s decision would render the candidate incompatible with any position in justice.
