In its annual report for the past year, SPAK addresses 10 problems it encountered during 2024.
In the first place is external pressure on SPAK. But who exerts external pressure according to SPAK?
Organized crime, politics and media actors. These three have been tracked by SPAK during 2024 as suspects who tried to violate the constitutional independence and balance of investigations.
The report submitted to the assembly mentions the damage caused to SPAK by these pressures, categorized as "external interventions that also endanger the integrity of prosecutors."
As a solution, SPAK proposes the response of all institutions that are responsible for preserving the independence and of the prosecutors who serve there.
The climate that SPAK describes for the past year is directly related to the investigations against politicians who were once high-ranking officials and heads of institutions put under investigation during 2024 and which clearly led to public accusations against prosecutors and, on the other hand, statements from the KLP to ban pressures and hate speech.
The same thing happened after the blow that organized crime, especially exposed by the Sky ECC applications, received, an investigation that ended in the Constitutional Court and increased the tension in the justice system. On the other hand, in the list of ten problems encountered, in place of 2 stands the legal vacuum for the status of special prosecutors when they complete their 9-year mandate. And such a situation risks violating the standard of investigations required by the public, the Parliament, the Council of Ministers and internationals - the report mentions. As a 3rd problem, the lack of legal advisors is listed, which puts the prosecution of cases up to the constitutional court at risk. The recognition of foreign criminal decisions against characters from the world of organized crime, which are held by ordinary courts, also continues without a solution.
For this reason, SPAK is requesting a change in the law.
Meanwhile, corruption and organized crime continue to be reported very little by state institutions, including the Police. While the lack of a case management system, the lack of an analysis unit, the status of the liaison specialist for joint international investigations who should not be treated as a civil servant, still await solutions. As does the non-extradition of Albanian citizens from the United Arab Emirates. /TCH