The Court of Appeal of Tirana has rejected the request of Enkelejd Alibeaj's group for the dismissal of judge Irida Kacerja as relator of the court case for the recognition of the Democratic Party's statute.
The decision was taken by judge Edlira Petri, as the request submitted to the court was signed by Gazment Bardhi. In its explanation, the Court of Appeal says that the Alibeaj group did not give a serious reason for the exclusion of judge Irida Kacerja from the judging panel.
The court also fined the Democratic Party 10,000 lek.
Decision :
- Rejecting the request of the complainant Democratic Party of Albania for the dismissal of judge Irida Kacerja.
– Court costs are charged to the petitioner.
- The fine of the applicant Democratic Party of Albania in the amount of 10,000 (ten thousand) ALL.
- This decision is final.
- A copy of the decision should be communicated to judge Irida Kacerja and the petitioner, the Democratic Party of Albania.
"In the absence of a serious reason, which would objectively question the impartiality of the relator judge, the request for her exclusion is deemed unfounded. In this regard, it is worth mentioning that in the case of Gjon Boçari k. Albania (Complaint NO. 10508/02) The European Court of Human Rights has stated that: "Regarding objective impartiality, the court has already concluded that the simple fact that the judge has made a decision, in itself is not enough to support doubts about impartiality his. What matters is the purpose and nature of the actions he performs during the 7 judicial process. In the same way, the judge's detailed knowledge of the case does not constitute any reason to doubt his impartiality when making the decision on the merits." - it is stated in the clarified decision of the Court of Appeal.
As for the fine, the court clarified that : "Referring to this conclusion, the behavior of the applicant in the process and based on Article 76, second paragraph of the Code of Civil Procedure, the legal sanction of a fine in the amount of ALL 10,000 should be applied"