Election of 3 new members of the High Judicial Council: “We need dignified, safe courts — it is not a luxury, it is a national need”

During the general meeting of 353 judges for the election of three new members of the High Judicial Council (KLGJ), the President of the Supreme Court responded positively to the prime minister’s invitation for dialogue on salaries.

Chief Justice Sokol Sadushi said judges must be clear about the consultation table to which the prime minister has invited justice leaders, adding that constitutional adjudication on salaries cannot be replaced by a dialogue table.

“The unprecedented aggression we faced this month with the blocking of salaries and then with the urgent approval, in flagrant contradiction with the Constitution and with the Constitutional Court, of judges’ salaries, of the law on status, constitutes the most arrogant blow to the independence of the judiciary and to the constitutional order itself in Albania,” said Fatmir Ismalaj, judge of the Court of Appeals.

“Challenges with our salaries continue and we are in joint action, determined to protect and to guarantee a salary at the constitutional level. Within legality, there must be a way to intervene to determine the magistrate’s salary and the consequences linked to the annulment of the previous regulation,” said Sandër Simoni, judge of the Supreme Court.

But salaries were not the only problem. The 7 candidates who competed for the KLGJ said the problem remains infrastructure and the lack of efficiency of the KLGJ.

“The High Judicial Council must be a personification of this unity, it must serve as an unshakable shield of independence, and it must do so even more in the future,” said Igerta Hysi, judge of the Special Court of Appeals.

“To have demands, dignified, safe courts, friendly to the parties and the public, is not a luxury, but a national need and an emergency given the conditions we work in,” said Arbena Ahmetaj, judge of the Supreme Court.

“Using technology and AI, which in fact should help the judge and the administration but not replace human judgment. The time has come for the council to approve rules,” said Brunilda Kadi, judge of the Tirana First Instance Court.

“It is not acceptable that in courts, a judge in one place has 700 cases on trial, while in others 200, 300,” said Manjola Xhaxho, judge of the Tirana First Instance Court.

“A strong judiciary is a judiciary that functions independently but also with high accountability to the law and citizens,” said Matilda Llangozi, judge of the Tirana First Instance Court.