TIRANA, Feb. 20, 2023 – Albania’s highest court has elected Holta Zaçaj, a 47-year-old judge, as its chief justice.
It took three rounds of voting to reach the needed majority of five votes for the judge who has had a seat in the Constitutional Court for less than a month.
Chief Justice Zaçaj is the second woman in Albania’s history to hold the post. She comes from a career as a lawyer in Albania’s justice system, with a focus on family and children’s law.
She has a shorter mandate than usual, being able to serve as chief justice until the end of 2025 as she is completing the mandate of retiring Judge Vitore Tushe, the only member of the original court to survive the justice reform vetting process, and who remained in office until the Constitutional Court was reached the required nine members to operate normally.
Two other members of the current court, Fiona Papajorgji and Mariana Semini, were in the race for the head of the Constitutional Court. In the first two rounds, none of the names in the competition had received the required majority of at least five votes.
The second round, last Friday, had the three candidates receiving three votes each, while Monday, it seemed that two of the votes that were for Mrs. Semini, went to Mrs. Zaçaj. Justice Semini received only one vote, while Mrs. Papajorgji kept the 3 votes she had previously received.
