TIRANA, Oct. 25 – Albania’s Constitutional Court suspended on Wednesday the draft law on transitional qualification assessment of the judges and prosecutors in the country, also known as the vetting law.
The bill, which allows the screening the candidates for senior posts in the Albanian justice system, was approved in August 2016. It is part of the justice reform package, crucial to the country’s start of accession talks with European Union.
The main opposition Democratic Party filed a motion against the bill drafted by EU and US experts, claiming the government was using the bill to exercise political influence on judicial appointments.
On Tuesday’s ruling, the Constitutional Court said it would suspend the law pending an opinion from the Venice Commission, a Council of Europe body that provides legal opinions, if the law is in compliance with the European Convention for Human Rights and Constitution of Albania.
Earlier this year, the Venice Commission provided feedback and endorsed the vetting bill, which according to the ruling majority ensures that the process of reforming the justice system is not influenced by politics.
The United States and the European Union issued a press statement saying “they respected the Court’s authority to review the Vetting Law and suspend its implementation.”
“We encourage that referral to the Venice Commission to happen as soon as possible to prevent delays. The United States and the European Union remain committed to the full implementation of judicial reform,” the statement noted.
The court’s suspension will cause a stalemate in the long process restructuring and detaching the judicial system from political influence and corruption.
The judicial package, sought by the EU and the US, consists of amendments of 58 articles of the constitution and several laws creating new justice institutions.
Albania was granted EU candidate status in 2014. The Socialist-led ruling majority hopes to opening EU accession talks this year although experts have been downplaying the chance of this happening so soon.
Authorities have undertaken a number of measures to raise capacities during the negotiation phase with European Union. Ministry of EU Integration plans to open “integration units” in 61 municipalities, to highlight the benefits of the EU integration process to the people.
Serbia and Montenegro are the next in line to be granted EU accession talks while Macedonia’s membership is on hold over the name dispute with Greece. Meanwhile the chances of Bosnia and Kosovo of opening negotiation talks are very slim due to their ongoing internal conflicts and dispute with Serbia.
