TIRANA, Feb. 16 – There seems to be no clarity in sight on the new bodies established by Albania’s justice reform process as two ministers have expressed concern over the makeup and role of the managing board of the International Monitoring Operation.
Justice Minister Petrit Vasili, a representative of the Socialist Movement for Integration, has sent a letter in which he opposes the role of the board as unconstitutional. The letter was sent to the President, the Parliament Speaker, the Prime Minister, and to U.S. and EU Ambassadors, and in it Vasili says that the managing board’s functions are not based on the justice reform law and constitutional amendments.
The minister says the board does not guarantee the credibility of the vetting process. The managing board of International Monitoring Operation (IMO) is composed of representatives of the European Commission and the U.S. government, which is set to monitor and advice on the process of vetting the background of Albanian judges and prosecutors.
Minister of Justice Petrit Vasili raised this issue in a letter sent to the highest authorities of the state. Vasili referred to a letter of the board chairwoman, Genoveva Ruiz Calavera, who is also the highest EU official for the region, sent the Secretary General of the Council of Ministers, in which she announces the launch of the observation mission.
Minister Vasili explains that he was not aware of this communication by which “arise significant concerns regarding official communications held, and the legality of the process of construction of that part of IMO,” adding that “in all legal or constitutional provisions, there is no definition for the establishment of IMO’s management board.”
While specifying that the constitution stipulates arrival and the role of experts, “in terms of the IMO managing board, composition, its role is unclear in this process, its membership with the participation of permanent and temporary, and including within it representatives of the respective embassies, do not find support neither in the Constitution nor the law.”
Vasili proposed in his letter a “return to the path of constitutionality and the law on this issue in order to discuss the problems born with the creation of this board.”
Minister of Integration Klajda Gjosha, also an SMI representative, addressed the issue in another letter to Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn. Underscoring the concerns raised by Vasili and his proposal to discuss the resolution of this problem, Minister Gjosha also asked the Commissioner Hahn to “launch official communications with representation of all stakeholders regarding the reform in justice to make sure the process moves forward correctly.”
In response, President Bujar Nishani sent a letter seeking “unequivocal implementation of the constitution and the law on the implementation of the judicial reform.” He added, “No institution or facility outside of this legal framework will not be able to take the attributes of a well-defined structure in the constitution.”
Representatives of the main ruling Socialist Party have remained silent on the matter, leading analysts to believe there is a SMI-SP rift on the matter.
