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The stock of files, the chairperson of the KLJ: We will increase the number of employees to examine more cases

2023-01-01 18:40:29Aktualitet SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX

The stock of files, the chairperson of the KLJ: We will increase the number of

The President of the High Judicial Council, Naureda Llagami, says that the independence of judges for decisions is closely related to giving an account for the decisions taken and that politics is not always silent when justice speaks.

Six years after the constitutional changes and the adoption of the reform, the Supreme Judicial Council, the new governing body of the judiciary, closed the year 2022 positively considering where the judiciary was when the judicial reform started and where it is today. The reform was very deep, it affected the judicial system at its roots and caused it to lose judges. Almost 70 percent of Albania's judges have been subjected, until now, to the transitory re-evaluation process, known as vetting. Only less than half of them have been confirmed in office. Out of a total of 408 judges, 225 judges are on duty today, so the vetting has dismissed more than 50 percent of them, says Naureda Llagami, head of this council, in an exclusive interview for DW.

In 2018, when the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) started its activity, as one of the new institutions in the framework of the judicial reform, it had only one judge, in the Supreme Court's body of 17 judges there was also only one left judge and two-thirds of the Presidents of the Courts, at the national level, were dismissed by the vetting, which is ongoing and will end in December 2024.

Naureda Llagami says in the interview that "the Supreme Court of Justice restored the functioning of the Supreme Court as an apolitical court, as provided by the reforms in justice. Its body now has 15 judges and in 2024 it will be completely filled with 19 members. This year, for the first time in the Supreme Court, it was possible to reduce the stock of thousands of files that have not been reviewed for years. The completion of the Supreme Court body, the support from the Supreme Court with human resources enabled the proper quorum for the functioning of the Constitutional Court."

Digitization and increasing the efficiency of judicial services

The positive balance of the KLJ also includes the creation four years ago of the Special Courts for Corruption and Organized Crime, of special importance in the context of the judicial reform, which are now functional and almost filled with the number of judges it provides the law. Within the last four years, 80 new judges have been added to the judicial system, who have successfully passed the vetting. "The KLJ has given special importance to the creation of a new judicial administration, professional, stable, professional and with high integrity. The strengthening of capacities has made it possible to escape the stock of files faster and is affecting the creation of the public's perception of a faster justice for citizens," says the president of the KLJJ.

The main directions in which judicial reform will continue in 2023 are digitization and increasing the efficiency of judicial services. Lagami clarifies that "for this purpose, during 2023 we will implement the new judicial map and we will identify partners who will support us to set up an integrated and modern system of managing judicial cases."

Justice delayed is justice denied

Today, the courts offer quite a few cases that prove the well-known saying, "justice delayed is justice denied" and delayed justice brings negative consequences to citizens and lowers their trust in the rule of law. For the judiciary to provide justice to citizens in time and to respect the deadlines set by the law, according to the president Llagami KLD "will increase the number of employees who help judges to create opportunities for them to examine as many court files as possible by analyzed and categorized them in advance. This is also the model of the Supreme Court that we intend to apply to the Court of Appeal in Tirana and the Administrative Court. Another measure is the increase in the quotas of new magistrates and administrative staff, which have increased by 300 people in the last four years."

According to the president of the KLD, "however, in the Courts of First Instance there are postponements of court sessions. This leaves unresolved conflicts, the parties conflict more, and the unexamined issues can lead to extreme conflicts between the parties in the judicial process. As a result of vetting and the dismissal of judges from it, judicial cases in a court pass hand in hand to the judges, who, in addition to their own cases, also receive those of judges who have been dismissed or are in the vetting process. In these conditions, the citizen does not receive the service he is looking for and justice does not go where it should: to the citizen." However, according to Llagami, the law provides that urgent, sensitive cases such as those for minors or the granting of protection orders have legal deadlines and none of the courts can violate these deadlines.

Disciplinary measures for corrupt judges with envelopes of money

The work of the judge is evaluated by the KLJJ through professional evaluation, explains the president Llagami, on the other hand, when there are cases of violation of the law, they are handled by the High Inspector of Justice (ILD), which was created two years ago and has processed many cases of judges for which KLJ has taken measures, starting from the lightest to the extreme ones. In close cooperation with ILD, 16 requests for legal proceedings have been initiated in the last two years.

"The independence that justice reform gives to the judge's decision-making must go hand in hand with accountability. Today, the judiciary in Albania has absolute independence and the role of politics is "zero." - says Llagami

Should the judicial system be protected and from what?

According to the president of KLD, the judicial system must be protected "from all the rhetoric that muddies the judicial system. Right now, this system is not at its best, but it should be given time to mature. However, it already has all the mechanisms in place and is consolidated: there are vetting institutions that are doing their work, independently. If there are cases of corrupt judges, the citizen has institutions to turn to."

According to Llagami, another challenge is the fact that "there is political rhetoric in Albania and this shows a deficient culture. But this is not only an Albanian phenomenon. Politics must exercise self-restraint when court cases are at stake. Politics has created mechanisms for situations where there are doubts. There are cases when politics is silent, there are cases when politics uses the judicial system in rhetoric. Meanwhile, professional ethics prohibits the judiciary from speaking."

The implementation of the new judicial map begins in February 2023

According to the president of the KLD, the challenges for the HCJ during 2023 will be the full implementation of the new judicial map and the reduction of the stock of unreviewed files. The new judicial map almost halves the number of Courts of First Instance. The Chamber of Advocates brought the approval of this map by the Rama government to the Constitutional Court. Will the implementation of this map begin in 2023, or will the decision of the Constitutional Court be awaited?

According to the president of KLD Llagami, "The new judicial map is a legal obligation that aims to guarantee the provision of services, the specialization of judges and the rationalization of financial expenses. Until today, judges in every court deal with all cases: civil, criminal, administrative and commercial. This prevents their specialization and consequently the increase of efficiency, productivity. The implementation of the new judicial map, approved by the Rama government in July 2022, will begin in February 2023, when Albania will have only one Court of Appeal, at the national level. In May, the 28 courts of first instance will be reorganized into 13 such courts. In July, the six Administrative Courts will be reorganized into two such. The reorganization of the Courts will increase the number of judges in each of them and will make possible the specialization of judges.


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