Supreme Court law

The first amend that attracts attention is the request for bringing the number of Supreme Court Judges to 21, from 17 that they currently are, and from 19 that are proposed by the government, as a necessity for placing the Administrative Court in function.

Secondly, by supporting the qualified majority appointment of the Supreme Court members, Mrs. Becaj proposed that the president should not consult with Parliamentary Groups before releasing the decree, but with the President of the Court and the Minister of Justice.

According to her, this would increase the independence of Supreme Court members. But what attracts more attention in the proposals of the Supreme Court president is the wage increase request for the members of this court.

By proposing that they should have wages 10% higher than Minsiters, Becaj thinks that they would resolve the judicial corruption problem at the Supreme Court.

“To fight corruption and to have independence, integrity, stability and no fear to give the verdict, a Court must need a decent institution. As regards to the words that  will come out saying that Shpres Becaj would want to increase her own wage, I don’t even think about it because I will be there for only two other months”, Becaj declared.

The President of the Supreme Court, who is ending his mandate, made another amend that allows the Supreme Court members safe posts at the Supreme Court, wherever they might as them.

And not only that, but according to Mrs. Becaj, these members should not only enter the Court of Appeal without a competition, as anyone else, but should also be paid with Supreme Court wage until they retire.

These propositions were given by the Ministry of Justice and the Euralius Mission, without admitting the reasoning of the Supreme Court that such amends would give to the members of this institution more independence or integrity.

The draft law for the Supreme Court is an initiative that demands qualified majority. None of the Socialists have submitted amends, but the Constitutional amend package of the opposition demands a qualified majority of the Supreme Court members, which was not admitted by the Democratic Party.

Without the Supreme Court law amends, at least as regards the number of their members, the Administrative Court cannot start in January.

Artan Zeneli, President of the Supreme Court

The Commission of laws passed the decree of President Bamir Topi for appointing Artan Zeneli at the Supreme Court, who is currently member of the Tirana Court.

But the voting at the Commission of Laws was not unanimous. Among the Democratic Party, Enkelejd Alibeaj voted against, while the Socialist Party abstained. Alibeaj voted against and expressed his low consideration for judge Zeneli’s merits.

His candidacy was rejected four years ago by the majority, in block and with some other presidential decrees, with the argument that the head of the state had not been consulted with the Parliament.

For the second time Mr. Topi did not consult the Parliament when he sent a name, and according to Alibeaj this is the reason why he is voting against.

However, the democratic chairman of the Commission of Laws, Ilir Rusmali, declared that the Parliament has won this constitutional battle with president Topi after favoring the Constitutional Court decision for cooperation between the institution in decreeing the Supreme and Constitutional Court members.

On the verge of the new presidency, Rusmali declared that he hoped that President Nishani would correct the constitutional mistakes made by his predecessor, Bamir Topi.

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