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"Post with cork"/ Family members of dismissed judges and prosecutors take their place in the justice system

2024-01-15 14:03:24Investigim SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
Vetting

Six years of the transitional re-evaluation process of judges and prosecutors have been completed, with three years of mandate left for the second level of vetting institutions, the Special Appeals College, while the Independent Qualification Commission after a two-year mandate extension in the year past, ceases to exist in December 2024.

Still before the vetting of magistrates, family members of judges and prosecutors who have been dismissed or resigned, they seem to have rushed to fill the vacancies created in the justice system as a result of the Justice Reform.

The choice of profession is a right guaranteed by the Constitution of the Republic of Albania for all Albanian citizens, but the standards of the governing institutions of the justice system in verifying the wealth of candidates for magistrates seem to be different from those of the vetting institutions. , raising questions about the verifications carried out so far, as well as those in the future.

The Supreme Judicial Council and the Prosecutor's Office have not found any problems with the assets of the eight family members of the magistrates removed from the system due to problems with the assets or resigned during the vetting, opening the door for them to take the places of their parents or spouses, circumstances that raise questions about the main goal of the Justice Reform, that of restoring public trust. Likewise, the High Prosecution Council has not found any problems related to the figure and wealth of the daughter of a former prosecutor convicted of corruption in 2016.

Meanwhile, a former judge and a former prosecutor, who are currently employed as internal lecturers at the School of Magistrates, have renounced the status of magistrate during the vetting process and have been banned from returning to functions in the justice system for 15 years. The legislation has not defined the position of internal lecturer in the School of Magistracy in the list of functions that are prohibited to be appointed for 15 years in case of resignation during the re-evaluation process.

The need for a reform in the Albanian justice system arose based on the monitoring reports of international partners and local organizations, which, based on the conducted surveys, found that the citizens' trust in the justice system was at the lowest levels, with a trend continuously worsening.

The identified problems were numerous, from malfunctioning, lack of professionalism of magistrates, their independence and efficiency, lack of integrity, transparency, accountability and reliability.

These phenomena in justice institutions were widely accepted about a decade ago and therefore in November 2014 the special parliamentary commission was set up to analyze the situation, marking the beginning of the Justice Reform, with the main goal of restoring public trust to the justice system.

After the unanimous approval in the Assembly of the legislation on the vetting of magistrates in July 2016, as well as after the establishment of the institutions that are carrying out the process of transitional re-evaluation of judges and prosecutors since the beginning of 2018, most of the latter are verified in three criteria: for wealth, for purity of image and for professionalism.

According to statistical data, published by KPK for the period February 8, 2018-November 30, 2023, 712 decisions were given, of which 312 were for confirmation in office; 242 magistrates were dismissed from office; the re-evaluation process for another 101 magistrates has been stopped due to resignation from office, who have been banned from returning to the system for 15 years; 8 decisions on the suspension of the process; 48 decisions on vetting termination without a final decision and 2 suspension decisions.

In most cases, judges and prosecutors, who have been dismissed from office, have been found to have problems in the property criterion, while those who have had their vetting suspended and have been banned from returning to the justice system for 15 years, have resigned. from the status of the magistrate, after being acquainted with the results of the Commission's administrative investigation. The Special Board of Appeal found most of the decisions of the KPK to be correct.

However, the investment of several years to remove from the system the magistrates, who did not justify their assets, seems to be called into question by the High Judicial Council and the High Prosecution Council, where the image and wealth assessment process is also carried out for the candidate magistrates, who have earned the School of Magistracy. It is precisely these two institutions of the governance of the justice system that in the following years will carry out the verification of the wealth, image and professionalism of judges and prosecutors. However, there are several cases when the vetting institutions have overturned the verification carried out by these institutions, as well as the different conclusions about the wealth, reached for the family members of the magistrates dismissed for problems in this criterion, suggest at least a weaker level verification by the councils that govern the justice system.

The European Commission assesses that it is essential that the new governing institutions of the justice system continue to apply the same standards achieved by the vetting process for the assessment of wealth, image and professionalism for candidates for magistrates and for magistrates. It also recommends legal changes to make it possible for those dismissed or resigned during the vetting process not to educate future generations of magistrates.

Questions are also raised by the director of the Institute of Political Studies, Afrim Krasniqi, who also suggests legal changes to improve the situation.

Family members of those dismissed, in the system

The magistrates' vetting institutions have created a new practice in the verification of assets, passing the burden of proof to the subjects to prove the legality of the sources of creation and placing emphasis on the legality of the income, which served to cover the investments and expenses. In the "sieve" of the verifications, the assets of the family members of the new magistrates, which turned out to have been created before the beginning of their duties, have also passed. This is for the purpose of verifying whether these magistrates enjoy, even through inheritance, wealth with legal sources or not, regardless of whether it turns out to have been created by their family members, before exercising their function.

The High Judicial Council and the High Prosecution Council, the two new institutions that govern the justice system, carry out the verification of the assets and the image of the candidates who have been declared winners in the competition for the School of Magistracy. It is precisely KLGJ and KLP that, after carrying out the verifications for these two criteria, decide whether or not to allow the winners to attend the School of Magistrates. This verification is carried out, even after the candidates for magistrates have successfully completed the three-year training at the School of Magistrates, before being appointed to office.

But it seems that the investigation carried out on the property by the Supreme Court and the KLP is of a different standard than that created by the vetting institutions, raising questions about the continuity in the future regarding the control that will be exercised on the magistrates, as well as regarding with the public's trust in justice, as these two institutions have the powers to evaluate new and current magistrates, as well as in the future.

The son of a judge dismissed for wealth problems in November 2021 managed to attend the Magistrate's School that same year, after being found to be free of image and wealth problems, although he is the legal heir to his parents' estates. During the process at the Special Appeals College in 2023, this judge was defended by his son, a student of the Magistrate's School. However, his dismissal remained in force even in the College.

In 2021, the daughter of a judge dismissed in 2019 by the KPK was allowed by the Supreme Court of Justice to attend the School of Magistrates, a decision that was also upheld in 2020 by the KPA, due to problems in the property criterion and the professionalism criterion. A year later, the Supreme Judicial Council found no problems in the property, which the daughter enjoys as the legal heir.

The group of young magistrates, from whom the change in the justice system is expected to come, has also been joined by the children of two judges, whose vetting has been suspended and they have been banned for 15 years from holding magistrate or equivalent functions. due to their resignation from office during the transitional reassessment process. One of them resigned in the middle of the vetting that was being carried out by the KPK, while the other one, after the request for the opening of the administrative investigation for the image and professionalism was rejected.

The KLP acted similarly in verifying the family members of dismissed magistrates. The daughter of a judge dismissed in 2020 for insufficient declaration of assets was allowed by the KLP to attend the Magistrate's School a year later. The dismissal of the new magistrate's mother took effect in 2023.

In the academic year 2021-2022, the son of a judge dismissed in 2019 for wealth problems started the School of Magistrates.

In the academic year 2022-2023, the group of candidates for magistrate was also joined by the daughter of a former prosecutor convicted for passive corruption in 2016. Persons investigated for organized crime are considered inappropriate contacts. The criminal offense, for which the father of the candidate for prosecutor was convicted, is currently being investigated and judged by the special jurisdiction, which has the powers to investigate organized crime as well.

The verifications of the KLJ and KLP regarding the wealth and the figure of the candidates for magistrates become more controversial due to the fact that the wives of two judges dismissed for wealth problems were allowed to attend the School of Magistrates, although they were co-owners and were considered contributors to the creation of assets, which, according to vetting institutions, were not created with legal sources. Even in these cases, the KLJ and KLP have not found any problems with the assets of the two candidates for magistrates, co-owners of the assets assessed as illegal by vetting institutions, although it is expected that they will soon take office, one as a prosecutor and the other as a judge.

The High Judicial Council, asked about the verification of these cases, affirmed for INA Media through a written reply that it has assessed that the candidates have met the legal criteria and there was no reason for their disqualification.

" These decisions do not in any way violate public trust, but are within every legal provision ", - is quoted at the end of the answer of the High Judicial Council.

While the High Prosecution Council regarding the questions about the standards followed in the verification of the wealth of the family members of the magistrates dismissed for problems in the wealth criterion, as well as in relation to public trust, referred to the audio recordings of the plenary sessions, where they were presented and the draft decisions were voted, but without giving any comment or position as to what was asked.

The director of the Institute of Political Studies, Afrim Krasniqi, says that such a situation cannot create trust in the public.

" Their children cannot bear responsibility, despite the fact that this affects the public perception that Albania is a small country, where everyone knows each other. The recycling of younger generations in the justice system cannot create much confidence in the public. Basically, every individual should be judged for his actions and I see it as a conflict, which is related to the concept of democracy and our ability as a society, but also with the system's ability to promote and create independent individuals even from families theirs and to judge them regarding their professional achievements during decision-making or during the exercise of the profession" , Krasniqi asserted, among other things.

Krasniqi considers the cases of admission of the wives of dismissed magistrates as a major defect in the justice system. According to him, this situation is the product of a clientelistic system, which also circulates in the new justice system. " It deserves investigation and verification of how much justice the justice system produced and how many new, speculative spaces have been created by those who drafted the laws to create benefits" , Krasniqi emphasizes.

INA Media requested a comment from the International Monitoring Operation on this situation, but, after this institution stated that it was out of its scope, operational in Albania, to present an opinion on the cases in question, it assured that the questions would be forwarded to the European Commission , who presented his position.

The European Commission brings to attention that Albania, as a candidate country for the European Union, is committed to aligning the European standards for the rule of law, including the continuous implementation of the comprehensive Reform in Justice and in particular that of the transitional reassessment of judges and prosecutors. Likewise, the European Commission notes that it is closely following the consolidation of the rule of law in Albania.

Regarding the issues raised regarding the standards for verifying the wealth and appearance of candidates for magistrates by the KLJ and KLP, the European Commission underlines that the same high standards, established by the vetting process, must be applied, stressing that that standard remains essential .

INA Media sent questions for comment regarding these findings and 12 of the 24 high-level experts of the Reform in Justice, for whom it was possible to secure contacts, but until the publication of this article only the president of the Supreme Court, Sokol Sadushi replied, saying that he could not express himself, as it is a matter that can become the object of a judicial evaluation and damages the impartiality of his position in the future.

 Resigned, lecturers of magistrates

The vetting of the former Serious Crimes prosecutor, Henrik Ligori, was terminated by the Independent Qualification Commission on February 1, 2021, due to his resignation from the status of magistrate. Likewise, the sanction was imposed, which prohibits Ligor from being appointed a judge or prosecutor of any level, a member of the High Judicial Council or the High Prosecution Council, High Inspector of Justice or General Prosecutor for 15 years.

Henrik Ligori, who has been one of the high-level experts of the Law Reform, since 2018 has been working as an Internal Lecturer of the School of Magistracy. The vetting legislation has not defined among the sanctioned functions the position of the internal pedagogue of the Magistrate, although it has a key role in the formation of generations of new magistrates. Currently, Ligori simultaneously practices the profession of lawyer, where he mainly defends defendants in cases of public interest, such as in the case of the legal representation of the former Minister of Defense, Fatmir Mediu, who was charged with "Misuse of duty" related to the tragic event in Gërdec in 2008, where 26 people lost their lives and hundreds more were injured.

In 2020, the former prosecutor, Henrik Ligori, informed the Independent Qualification Commission that he was no longer exercising the duties of a prosecutor and therefore no longer enjoyed the status of the subject of re-evaluation.

With his claims, Ligori avoided vetting even in the capacity of a former magistrate, which is one of the ways defined in the vetting legislation for the temporary reassessment of judges and prosecutors. He submitted to the Commission that he could not even be sworn in as a former prosecutor, since at the time of the entry into force of the legislation on the veting, he enjoyed the status of a magistrate.

However, the Commission closed the administrative investigation and summoned Ligor to a hearing, but the latter called it unnecessary. Although he has qualified the conclusions of the KPK in his opinion as correct, Ligori has stated that with his resignation in 2018, he had chosen to exercise his duties as an internal lecturer at the School of Magistrates without any limited term, based on the provisions of the law "On governing bodies of the justice system".

Referring to the procedures for the appointment of Ligor as an internal lecturer at the School of Magistrates, the KPK has assessed that he does not enjoy the status of a magistrate, as he was not appointed according to the legal definition "Educators, judges or prosecutors", who are guaranteed the status of a magistrate and reinstatement. But, because it has been proven that Ligori has resigned from office, it has been assessed according to Article G of the Annex to the Constitution, which determines that the termination of vetting in the event of a magistrate's resignation is accompanied by the loss of the right to be appointed in some functions in the justice system.

Educator and lawyer Henrik Ligori did not respond to INA Media's e-mailed questions for comment until the publication of this article.

Similar to Ligor's case, another resigned magistrate has obtained a position as an in-house lecturer at the Magistrate's School. The former judge of the Administrative Court of Appeal, Amarildo Laçi, was appointed to the Commission in 2018, but after about a year and a half, he resigned from his position, shortly before the vetting process against him was completed. When the Commission invited him to a hearing in May 2020, he announced that he had resigned from his post a few days earlier. In addition to the termination of the vetting, Article G of the Annex to the Constitution was also applied in this case, prohibiting Laç from being appointed to some functions for 15 years, but this sanction did not prevent him from being one of the lecturers at the Magistrate's School.

Former judge Amarildo Laçi was unavailable to be asked for a comment regarding the fact that, although he resigned at the end of the vetting process, he currently holds a position that also influences the younger generations of magistrates.

INA Media also asked the director of the School of Magistrates, Arben Rakip, for a comment via e-mail, but he has not yet received a reply.

Krasniqi qualifies the appointment to the School of Magistrates of subjects who have resigned from the veting, as a clear violation of the principles and standards of the veting and new justice.

" The Magisterial School should have a much more professional system, especially for the pedagogical staff and management. The School of Magistrates deserved another staff and it is paradoxical that the justice system is tested in its own suburbs and at all levels of the judiciary and the prosecution, even the highest level, that of preparing judges and prosecutors, […] to have so low standard of selection of their staff even for individuals, who are involved in the education of future generations", says Krasniqi, underlining that the lecturers are the ones who influence the new structure of justice.

According to Krasniqi, the problem is also the promotion of those dismissed from the justice system to the teaching and management staff of the faculties. " This deserved an assessment, despite the fact that the Justice Reform package did not affect them. It deserves an evaluation by the parliament, to see where the intervention should have been ", - suggests Krasniqi.

Even the European Commission recognizes the need for legal changes. " Legislative changes should be introduced to strengthen the integrity of the teaching staff at the School of Magistrates, ensuring that former magistrates dismissed through vetting or those who have resigned in front of it, are not treating future generations of magistrates", - emphasized in the response of the European Commission./ ina media


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