TIRANA, Jan. 12 – During a 30-minute meeting last week, the Parliamentary Commission of Laws (PCL) reconfirmed its intent to press ahead with justice system reforms, without making any concrete proposals as to the laws or institutions that will be affected by these reforms.
PCL head Fatos Beja of the governing Democratic Party commended the recent reform commitments at both spectrums of the political spectrum in Albania to fulfill the obligations of the NATO integration process.
PCL deputy chairman Fatmir Xhafaj of the main opposition Socialist Party emphasized that “the reforms must be all-encompassing,” and reasserted the opposition’s stance for actual political consensus, rather than political deals on the reforms.
The new found majority-opposition consensus to cooperate on justice systems reforms was equally praised by Justice Minister Enkelejd Alibeaj, who was also present at the meeting.
The Commission announced it will put together a group of experts to examine proposals relating to justice system reforms, starting with the draft law On the Organization of Judicial Power, and present them accordingly to the PCL.
Until now, the opposition has been against this draft law which, among other things, provides for the creation of an administrative court, the dissolution of military courts and specifies, for the first time, the duties and tenures for judges of the First Instance and Appellate Courts.
Immediately after the PCL meeting was over, the group of experts held a closed door meeting, during which members are expected to have specified their duties and future work.
Deputy Head of the High Council of Justice (HCJ), Kreshnik Spahiu, said that the HCJ supported the full deep-level reorganization of judicial power in Albania.
However, Spahiu expressed his reservations towards the above stated draft law with regards to the courts’ budgets and procedures of transfers and the discharging of judges.
Supreme Court head Thimio Kondi was also critical of the government’s draft law On the Organization of Judicial Power with respect to problems raised by the imprecise nature of the proposed Administrative Court. Kondi added that the draft law had to be made part of a greater packet of justice system reforms that needed to take place.
