New law for the HCJ bunker

According to them, all they are doing is returning into law the internal regulation of the HCJ, since it has not been implemented. The first important change is stopping the practice that one HCJ member can be transferred or promoted as judge while he is still a HCJ member.

“When elected as member of the High Council of Justice, you will serve to the justice, not to yourself”, declared the Socialist MP, Pandeli Majko.

Pandeli Majko, who read the changes proposed by the initiating group, foresaw a political prejudice for article 2 of these propositions, which discharges the members elected by the Parliament and those elected by the Judiciary Conference for violations of the Constitution or of the law.

“I understand that there different treatments of things, as if the Parliament is intervening in the hot debate between the Minister of Justice and the High Council of Justice, but I don’t think that someone can say today that these sentences are wrong, otherwise we would be saying that the Parliament members could make violations of the Constitution and the law”, Majko declared.

The other change that was made, was the case of Gjin Gjoni, who, despite being criminally reported, was not suspended by the HCJ, as the Minister of Justice had requested. The legal laws will not leave this issue anymore in the hands of the HCJ.

“A judge who is under investigation cannot keep being a judge or a member of the High Council of Justice”, declared Armando Subashi, an MP from the majority.

Other amends foresee concrete deadlines for reviewing the disciplinary procedures proposed by the Minister of Justice, which have been sleeping for too long on the table sof the HCJ, according to the initiators of these propositions. The amends affect the functionality of the HCJ inspectorate to make it more efficient and more accountable.

The transparency of the institution that was considered a “bunker” by the majority will change through another amend, allowing the media more access to the decisions of these judges, by obliging them to publish their decisions.

The discussion of the draft-law for the HCJ went on without the opposition, which is boycotting the Parliament. Their only representative was Nard Ndoka, who presented a concern and a proposition.

Nard Ndoka: Let’s postpone this draft-law, since we don’t have today the colleagues of the Democratic Party, who are boycotting.

Bashkim Fino, Socialist MP: We are waiting for them and we appealed them to come. We are not here to wait for the opposition, but because we have the vote to lead.

Nard Ndoka: Personally, I see these amends as a damage to the independence of the HCJ.

Bashkim Fino: During this year in government we could have removed three of them, starting from the vice chairman and two others. But we didn’t do it. We are demanding today to turn their regulation into law, in order to have more transparency.

The Chairman of the Commission, Fatmir Xhafa, declared that the legal amends of the HCJ are not part of the justice reform. If that was the case, they would be reviewing the formula of the HCJ and its role.

He said that the justice reform will be done based on the territorial reform, through a special parliamentary commission, by answering to the question why they didn’t wait for a full justice reform, but brought the amends in this moment.

“We have an emergency in this system. We have a scandalous abuse with some important issues and for the way how the High Council of Justice works. We cannot wait six months and one year, and let the Court Presidents be commandeered rather than appointed. Should we wait while the HCJ stays in a bunker? Should we wait for judges who swim in gold to continue in trials? What should we do with this emergency? We will certainly intervene with partial amends that will unblock the situation”, declared the Chairman of the Commission of Laws, Fatmir Xhafaj.

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