This weekend, the Albanian Parliament approved the 27 members of the vetting institutions, the Independent Qualification Commission (KPK), the Appeals College (KA), and the two Public Commissioners.
The KPK consists of 12 members, which will split up in 4 teams of 3 members. The different teams are selected by lot.
These three institutions will in the coming years reassess all the judges and prosecutors, as well as supporting personnel, in the Albanian judicial system. They have been nominated for a period of 9 years.
The work of the vetting institutions is defined in the Constitution art. 179/b, the Constitutional Annex, and law no. 84/2016 “For the transitional reassessment of judges and prosecutors in the Republic of Albania,” also known as the “vetting law.”
According to Constitution art. 179/b(5),
The reassessment is done by the Independent Qualification Commission [KPK], while complaints of subjects of reassessment or the Public Commissioner are reviewed by the Appellate Commission [KA] at the Constitutional Court.
So both the subjects of reassessment and Public Commissioners can file an appeal. The former obviously in their own interest, and the latter in the interest of the public, as determined in Constitutional Annex art. C(2).
According to art. 179/b(3) and (4), the following civil servants will be reassessed:
All judges, including the judges of the Constitutional Court and the High Court, all prosecutors, including the General Prosecutor, Chief Inspector, and other inspectors at the High Council of Justice are subjected to reassessment ex officio.
All legal councillors at the Constitutional Court and the High, legal aids at the administrative courts, legal aids at the General Prosecutions will be reassessed ex officio. Upon request and if they fulfill the legal criteria also former judges, former prosecutors, for legal councillors of the Constitutional Court and the High Court, which have worked in those positions for at least three years, can be subjected to the reassessment process.
According to art. Ç(1) of the Constitutional Annex, which defines the judicial reform, the reassessment will cover the following three components:
- Wealth
- Background
- Professional abilities
Following art. D(2)of the Constitutional Annex, control of wealth is executed by the independent state institution of the High Inspectorate of the Declaration and Control of Wealth and Conflict of Interests (ILDKPKI), which reports back to the KPK.
Following art. DH(1) of the Constitutional Annex and art. 36(1) and (2) of the vetting law, the background check is executed by a working group set up by the Directorate of the Security of Classified Information (DSIK), which contains members of the DSIK, the State Information Service (ShISh), and the Control Service of Internal Affairs and Complaints (ShKÇBA) of the Ministry of Interior Affairs.
Following art. E(1) of the Constitutional Annex, the KPK will also evaluate the professional abilities of the assessee.
In its evaluation of complaints of Judges’ Associations and the opposition that the inclusion of the DSIK in the vetting process would politicize the process, the Venice Commission maintained that according to the Constitution the KPK and KA have full authority to investigate matters themselves and full control over the vetting process. It also stressed that the secrecy clause may only be invoked by the DSIK in regards to “information [that] is favourable to the assessee.”
According to art. Ë(1) of the Constitutional Annex, the KPK and KA are allowed to impose:
- Disciplinary measures
- A 1-year suspension of the assessee and obligatory re-education at the School of the Magistrature
- Dismissal from office
According to the art. 4(3) of the vetting law, the reassessment by the KPK will start immediately, which is technically today. The KPK will start with reassessing the judges from the Constitutional Court, the High Court, and the General Prosecution, followed by everyone else.
The entire process will be monitored and assisted by the International Monitoring Operation (ONM).
