Deadline for Vetting Institution Candidates, More Than 100 Applications

More than hundred applications have arrived at the office of the National Ombudsman to fill the 27 positions available in the three new institutions that will be perform the transitional reassessment (“vetting”) of all judges, prosecutors, and supporting personnel of the judiciary branch.

Yesterday the National Ombudsman published a list of the 56 candidates who had sent in their applications by e-mail or as a hardcopy before 20:30. Apparently, that number nearly doubled in the hours until 23:59, the official deadline.

The National Ombudsman will within 7 days formally review all candidates, and draft two lists: two who fulfill the criteria, and those who don’t. These lists will then be forwarded to the International Monitoring Mission (ONM), which recently arrived in Tirana. The ONM will review both lists, and send them back with recommendations to the National Ombudsman, who afterwards will send the list to Parliament, where an ad-hoc commission will prepare the final list of 27 names: 14 for the Independent Qualification Commission (KPK), 7 for the Appellate College (KA), and 4 for the function of Public Commissioner.

Meanwhile, the National Ombudsman is also organizing the election of the civil society members of the High Judicial Council (KLGj) and the High Prosecutorial Council (KLP).