Decreeing of the magistrates’ salary law, Bardhi: Questions over the President’s role as guarantor of the Constitution

Democratic Party parliamentary group leader Gazment Bardhi has reacted after President Bajram Begaj decreed the law “On several additions and amendments to Law No. 96/2016, On the status of judges and prosecutors in the Republic of Albania, as amended.” In a reaction on social media, Bardhi criticized the way the President has exercised his constitutional role. “Within 24 hours, without visibly exercising his constitutional role as guarantor of the Constitution and as an institutional balancing factor, President Bajram Begaj decreed the promulgation of the law on the status of magistrates,” Bardhi said.

According to him, the debate is not only about judges’ and prosecutors’ salaries, but about a law that, in his view, affects the independence of the judiciary, the relationship between the branches of power, and the role of the Constitutional Court. Bardhi said that in moments of clashes between institutions, the President should play the role of a figure “above the parties” and guarantee institutional balance. He also raised concern over what he described as the possibility of Parliament ignoring Constitutional Court decisions, stressing that this issue should not be reduced to a technical debate about salaries.

“Equally serious is the situation created by delays in their financial treatment. These issues require solutions in line with the Constitution, not an escalation of the inter-institutional conflict,” Bardhi said.

He further stressed that the decreeing of the law, without a public stance by the President on the institutional clash and the implementation of Constitutional Court decisions, raises questions about the manner in which he exercises his constitutional role. “The institution of the President is neither a Treasury Director nor a guard of the Parliament building. Bajram Begaj is…” Bardhi concluded.