On Monday, the Justice Appointments Council (KED) assessed candidates for the vacant position of High Justice Inspector (ILD), with State Attorney Artur Metani getting the highest score.
The KED published the following preliminary list, while the ranking will be done in the next meeting, and then sent to Parliament.
- Artur Metani, 89.6 points;
- Eris Hysi, 78.3 points;
- Joana Asimi Sorraj, 82.5 points;
- Lindita Troja 63.4 points;
- Sokol Stojani 89 points.
The ILD is the institution responsible for verifying complaints and initiating administrative investigations against judges, prosecutors and members of the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council.
The inspector is elected from a list of 5 candidates selected and ranked by the KED with a parliamentary majority of 3/5 of the total amount of votes. ILD candidates should be prominent jurists with at least 15 years of professional experience and of high moral and professional integrity.
According to the Constitution, the ILD should have been appointed 2.5 years ago. Because the KED became functional only in 2019, the procedure to elect the ILD was launched in March this year, and re-launched in September, after only 4 of the required 5 candidates made it to the final list.
Artur Metani has been the State Attorney since November 2018, appointed by Prime Minister Edi Rama.
He also was a legal advisor to the President of Albania for about 10 years, May 2002–July 2012.
In August 2019, the opposition criticized the KED qualification of Metani in the final list of candidates for the ILD post, saying it violated the Constitution and justice reform laws.
Art.147/d/3 of the Constitution states that “[ILD candidate] He or she should not have held political posts in the public administration or leadership positions in a political party in the last past 10 years before running as a candidate.” The same condition is prescribed in Article 199/1/dh of the Law on Governance Institutions of the Justice System. Article 3/17 of the Vetting Law includes Metani’s current and previous duties as “political posts in the public administration.”
Metani is also the brother of MP and former Socialist minister Eglantina Gjermeni. The opposition has argued that the appointment of people close to Prime Minister Rama in key positions in the new justice system has a corrosive effect on the public trust in the independence of the reformed justice system.
