EU urges deeper reform for an independent judiciary

TIRANA, Oct 11 – Head of the European Commission Delegation in Tirana Ambassador Helmuth Lohan said that reforms in the judiciary should be conducted to achieve not only the independence but the accountability for the judges and prosecutors in the country.
In an interview to Gazeta Shqiptare Lohan explained that there were three main factors that were going to influence the evaluation of the Commission in the up-coming progress report: the preparations according to the standards for the up-coming elections; the strengthening of the judiciary and the drafting of the legislation in an open and transparent manner.
There were no serious threats to the democratic system in the country but the ambassador called for attention towards the preparations for the 2009 elections.
“The work of the Ad Hoc Committee on the Electoral Code should finish in the shortest period possible and then all the rest of the issues needs to be solved in the up-coming weeks and months such as: the electoral infrastructure, the production and distribution of the ID Cards, the preparation of the voters list and a number of other preconditions which should be in place as soon as possible,” said Lohan.