Recommendations of CPII taken seriously by the President of the Republic, Minister of Justice and High Court of Justice. Two more judges found “guilty” for delaying reasoning of the court decisions.

MONDAY, July 22, 2014 – Recommendations of Center for Public Information Issues are being taken seriously by the Minister of Justice and the High Court of Justice. In the last meeting, the HCJ reviewed the proposals of the Minister of Justice for disciplinary proceedings upon two  judges, Harrila Pashaj and Ilir Cela, respectively working in the District Court of Elbasan and Vlora. They were delaying reasoning and submission of final court decisions.

Denunciations were made ​​by citizens, following the public appeal of the Center for Public Information Issues, made two months ago while it exposed its findings on the vast spread phenomenon of decisions reasoning delay in the Albanian courts.

The President of the Republic Mr. Nishani, in the mean time chairman of the Hight Council of Justice, said that “the non-reasoning of the court decisions and consequently their delayed submission into the court secretaries, must not be tolerated by the High Council of Justice. Such delays, especially when repeated, are unjustified and contribute the creation of  a very negative perception”.

President Nishani added:  “I believe that one of the most serious problems plaguing upon people today is the reasoning and delivery  beyond legal time limits of the court decisions.  I see no other reason than the corruption behind this phenomenon”, said the President of the Republic.

This represent the strongest institutional positive reaction , backing the CPII conclusions on the phenomenon. CPII released on April 2014 the findings of a very special type of monitoring aiming at identifying at what extend judges were delaying the reasoning of the very decision they rule (in addition to the common delays in the court proceedings which in Albania may take even years). The findings were very disturbing, and were identified in the three levels of the judiciary. Ironically the delays were more expressed into the practice of the High (Supreme) Court of the R. of Albania.

Since CPII exposed the phenomenon, four judges have been put under disciplinary measured by the Ministry of Justice and the High Council of Justice has voted in favor of the proposed measures.  One of them, namely, N. Tabaku is expelled for good from the core of Judges in the R. of Albania.