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The new court map did not solve the problems, in the Kukës Court, the defendant stands next to the victim

2025-06-02 14:14:26Aktualitet SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
The new court map did not solve the problems, in the Kukës Court, the
Kukes Court

Conducting a trial at the Kukes court has become a challenge for the staff managing the administrative process. The court has no separate entrances for the parties and only has a formal room, equipped with a security cage, where criminal trials can be held.

"40-60 court sessions are held per day, where there are only three courtrooms, only one of which is a criminal court with a cage for the defendant, while the other two are the size of an office adapted as a courtroom," says Shkëlzen Mulosmani, chancellor at the Court of General Jurisdiction in Kukës.

The Court and Prosecutor's Office of Kukës were located in the building of the former Committee of the Party of Labor after the '90s, adapting in some way, but without being able to perform their function as contemporary institutions. Throughout three decades, the building has not had any serious investment.

Mulosmani says that the problems are known and have been mentioned in the High Judicial Council's report on the country's new judicial map, but beyond the findings, plans to improve conditions have stalled.

“The court shares its space with the district prosecutor's office, the central archive, the bailiff's office and the municipality. Currently, the court building does not meet design standards related to security and/or avoidance of ex-parte communication (i.e., dedicated entrances and exits for court personnel, parties and/or detainees),” the KLGJ report states in 2022.

The second phase of the new judicial map, which merged the Tropoja court with Kukës, was implemented on May 1, 2023, but two years later the infrastructure problems do not appear to have been resolved.

On the contrary, the implementation of the new judicial map has added to the difficulties for the functioning of the Kukes Court, which faces a lack of space, inadequate infrastructure, and insufficient capacity for the increasing number of cases and staff after merging with the Tropoja Court.

“The situation is very serious, it can only get worse,” lawyer Ilir Nerguti told BIRN, stressing that there are no safety conditions for the victims.

"In most cases, the defendant and the victim are standing next to each other," he added.

According to Nerguti, the responsible authorities justify themselves with the transition in justice. "The justice reform is in a transitional situation is the justification of the responsible authorities. It has been promised that there will be an expansion of the facilities, but this talk has been going on for 15 years," Nerguti added.

Officials of the Kukes court say that they have asked the Supreme Court of Justice to adapt the former old maternity hospital building of Kukes to serve as premises for the Kukes Court and Prosecutor's Office, which, according to them, could solve the problems with the premises.

"We have proposed to the Supreme Court of Justice that the former old maternity hospital building in Kukes be adapted for the Court and Prosecution Office. We have information that the Supreme Court of Justice and the Ministry of Health are in negotiations for this purpose, however, to carry out this adaptation, a lot of investment is required," says Mulosmani.

The problems, according to Mulosmani, go beyond wishes, as the new justice institutions, in this case the KLGJ, despite being established a decade ago, do not have sufficient autonomy in improving infrastructure. Mulosmani says that this institution does not own the court buildings throughout the country.

"Another obstacle in the new judicial map is the ownership of the courts, which are still owned by the Ministry of Justice, while the Supreme Court of Justice already has them under its administration. To make even a small investment in these facilities requires a multitude of bureaucratic procedures," he added.

Despite institutional reforms undertaken for more than a decade, the lack of financial resources and security and service standards continue to hinder the provision of justice in dignified conditions for citizens and parties to the process.

"It has been more than two years since the Tropoja court was merged into the existing Kukës court building, but although the number of officials has almost doubled, the premises are the same. We are in a procedure with the Supreme Court of Justice to regulate the premises, but they are still insufficient and this is not a solution," Shkëlzen Mulosmani, the chancellor of this court, told BIRN.

According to Mulosmani, the premises of this court do not meet the conditions required by the new judicial map. "Prosecutors, judges, lawyers, defendants and their families enter through one door. In this case, the defendant's rights regarding the presumption of innocence are also violated, where he can be photographed or filmed even when he appears for a security measure, which is not allowed by law, where there is no separate entrance for defendants," says Mulosmani.

Another problem is the safety of judges, prosecutors, lawyers and the defendants themselves, as there is a lack of criminal courts in relation to the number of daily sessions that take place at the First Instance Court of General Jurisdiction in Kukës.

Lawyer Nerguti says that due to the lack of facilities and space, there have been cases where lawyers, prosecutors, or even judges have been threatened or insulted by both family members of the accused, but also by the accused themselves.

"They constantly insult us because we are so close to each other. We are forced to remain silent because we don't know what to do," Nerguti said.

The new judicial map reduced the number of first instance courts to 13 and in this context, the files of Tropoja were transferred to Kukës, Mati to Dibër, Kurbin to Lezhë, Puka to Shkodër, Kruja to Tirana, Kavaja to the Durrës court, Lushnja to Fier, Përmet to Gjirokastër and Pogradec to Korça.

Infrastructure problems are not limited to the Kukës court. The General Appeal Court located in the capital also suffers from a lack of space and a lack of judges./ reporter.al


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