Parliament approves two Constitutional Court judges, turns one down

TIRANA, May 25 – President Bamir Topi held the swearing ceremony for two new judges of the Constitutional Court, Altina Xhoxhaj and Bashkim Dede.
He had decreed them earlier this month and they got the approval in a secret vote in parliament last week.
But the parliament turned down a third nominee, Vangjel Kosta, for allegedly being part of a political trial during the former communist regime.
The two judges were sworn in Tuesday.
That also sparked a political contest from the opposition claiming he was turned down as believed to be supporting them.
Topi has to replace four more judges of the Constitutional Court and three in the Supreme Court, a big move in the Albanian judiciary, which is considered to be its Achilles heel during the post-communist period.
On Monday Topi also nominated, decreed three judges for the Supreme Court, Vexhi Mucmataj, Sokol Como and Mehdi Bici. They are to be voted in the parliament.
But the parliament’s move against Kosta also led to U.S. Ambassador John L. Withers to express his surprise.
A few days ago the nomination of Mr. Vangjel Kosta was rejected by parliament in a nearly party line vote, he said. “Frankly, I found this decision puzzling, if not incomprehensive. Clearly, the decision was not due to Mr. Kosta’s qualifications since his experience and capabilities are beyond dispute and his standing as a jurist is at the highest levels, including internationally. And the reasons given for the parliament’s vote seemed disturbingly political.”
Opposition leader Edi Rama also shared Withers reaction on “the effort to extend the influence of the majority upon the justice through turning down Vangjel Kosta’s candidacy for bad motives.
Withers’ message on the selection of justices to the Constitutional Court and the High Court or any court was straightforward.
“It should be transparent, legal, and non-political … And to put political criteria on the use of talent is moving in the wrong direction; and especially when you’re talking about two of the most important judicial bodies that this country possesses. The decision on Judge Kosta does not meet the basic criteria, not of me not of America, but of any democracy. The questions that you ought to be asking those parliamentarians who cast the party-line vote is: Was this transparent? Was it legal? Was it non-political?”