TIRANA, Feb. 16, 2022 – The paralysis in Albanian courts due to the justice reform’s vetting process is slowly coming to an end as nominations of vetted judges are allowing for quorums to be formed in key courts.
The latest example is Wednesday’s appointment by President Ilir Meta of Judge Arbena Ahmetaj to the High Court after she was proposed by the High Judicial Council through procedures of promotion from the ranks of the judiciary.
Judge Ahmetaj’s appointment is important because it means the High Court now has ten judges among 19 available judgeships, which means it has the necessary quorum to convene a special meeting which has the power to elect three members of the Constitutional Court, which would allow Albania’s highest court to have all the judges prescribed by the constitution.
The Constitutional Court only recently reached quorum itself and has started looking at pressing cases that have accumulated in recent years when the judiciary was paralyzed as a large percentage of judges and prosecutors failed to pass the vetting process that is as part of the justice reform.
“The President of the Republic, in accordance with the requirements of the Constitution, and with the will for the High Court to be functional as soon as possible with all its necessary body, calls on the High Judicial Council to proceed with full uninterrupted commitment and with transparency, in order to complete without delay the procedures for the completion of the High Court with the entire required number of judges,” President Meta’s office said in a statement.
Last month, the High Court failed to review four candidates that had already been vetted for a vacant position in the Constitutional Court, precisely because of the lack of quorum.
Judge Ahmetaj comes from the administrative court system. She was the only candidate for the post.
Last November she successfully passed the re-evaluation process in the Independent Qualification Commission without a request of appeal from the Public Commissioner, thus leading to her ability to be reconfirmed as a judge through the vetting process.
Last month, the Supreme Court re-announced the call for the filling of the vacant position of the current President of the Constitutional Court Vitore Tusha, whose term ended several years ago, but who has legally been allowed to remain in office until her replacement is approved.
As per Albanian law, nine members of the Constitutional Court are appointed in equal measures of three by parliament, by the president and the High Court.
The appointment of the tenth High Court judge was welcomed by the EU and U.S. ambassadors to Tirana, who have championed and helped fund the justice reform and are happy to end the deadlock it has caused in the judiciary.
“This is another important step in the consolidation of justice reform,” the head of the EU Delegation, Ambassador Luigi Soreca said on Twitter.
U.S. Ambassador Yuri Kim added: “We welcome continued cooperation among institutions to implement justice reform, including today’s appointment by the Presidency of the tenth judge to the High Court. This increases the functionality of the High Court and also enables the High Court to appoint a judge to the Constitutional Court.”
