TIRANA, April 26 – The Independent Qualification Commission (IQC) has postponed announcing the vetting result for the fourth Constitutional Court judge Altina Xhoxhaj by a week; if ousted, Xhoxhaj’s absence risks dissolving the court altogether.
The result whether Xhoxhaj has successfully passed the vetting will be now announced on May 7, as additional wealth justifying information was filed by the judge.
Xhoxhaj’s first hearing with the IQC took place on Monday, when the council announced at the end of the hearing that Xhoxhaj’s declarations held irregularities and failed to justify her accumulated wealth through the years.
According to what Xhoxhaj has already filed, in 2003 her family’s wealth was 15.4 million ALL, while in 2017 it had mounted to 39.2 ALL — a 2.5 times increase.
Two of the declarations filed by the judge result to an unjustified wealth of about 1.7 million ALL, raising red flags that local media reported will most likely result in Xhoxhaj being ousted.
However, after the hearing, Albania’s Ombudsman Erinda Ballanca declared her support for Xhoxhaj, saying she is personally acquainted with the judge, who is very correct in her work.
“I personally have been one of the people that have spent a good part of their lives being a lawyer on a daily basis and personally, despite the issue of the IQC, I have known Altina Xhoxhaj as one of the most correct judges that have ever existed,” Ballanca told the media.
After the additional filing, the IQC decided to postpone the decision by a few days, taking time to go over the new documents.
Xhoxhaj is the fourth Constitutional Court judge, after Besnik Imeraj, Fatos Lulo and Vitore Tusha, facing the judiciary’s vetting process.
Imeraj resigned from the judiciary, but the IQC recommended he transfers to the prosecution, while Lulo was sacked for not passing vetting.
So far, only Judge Tusha has successfully passed the vetting.
Currently, Xhoxhaj is also a candidate for the Council of Judicial Nominations and the European Court of Human Rights.
Her career began in 1995, as a judge in the Court of Tirana. From 2006 until 2010 she was a member of the High Council of Justice (HCJ), and a judge of the Constitutional Court since 2010.
