Penalization of lawyers
18/07/2012 00:00
Linda Rama: Between Family, Work and Albania’s Future 18/08 14:30
When the main justice protagonists blame the lawyers for the judicial
delays, the proposition for adding article 47/3 in the draft-law for the
profession of lawyers has not continued without the resistance of the
latter.
The article says that when lawyers act against the dispositions, delaying the sessions this way, the court can fine them with 10.000 ALL for civil cases and 40.000 ALL for penal cases.
The Head of Euralius, Joaquin Urias, considered the fines almost ridiculous.
“Article 47/3 has our full support and we think that the judges must have the right to give measures against the lawyers, when they don’t respect the court and the rules. The fine is almost ridiculous for the Albanian reality, because the lawyer can afford paying it if his interest is to delay the case”, Urias declared.
The National Chamber of Lawyers and the Tirana Chamber of Lawyers opposed the article by considering it as intolerable for the independence of the lawyer.
“These disciplinary measures are out of place. I think that this not only violates the principles that are related with the implementation of the European Convention for the impartiality of courts, but it also damages the principle for the independence of lawyers”, declared the head of the Chamber of Lawyers in Tirana, Fatmira Braka.
“The lawyer goes to the first session and then leaves, because he is threatened or for other reasons. Then we must find an article that secures us. The defendant must have a list in which he chooses, and if the lawyer and the defendant leave, for objective reasons, the defendant is equalized with the person that rejects defense from the state”, declared Maks Haxhia, head of the National Chamber of Lawyers.
The head of the EU presence in Albania, Ettore Sequi, declared that the Albanian politicians must find consensus for the justice reforms.
“It is essential to have consultations when approving new laws. The same goes for the consensus and the sincere engagement of our political class in the electoral reforms. The creation of a responsible and independent judicial system has a vital importance for Albania’s EU integration, and I believe that we could achieve a wide consensus for the justice reform. This is what the Albanian political spectrum must discuss”, Sequi declared.
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