Rama: No prison arrest for sentences under 5 years. Disciplinary liability for judges who copy the prosecutor’s arguments

Prime Minister Edi Rama has presented some of the changes foreseen in the new package of the Code of Criminal Procedure, focusing on the use of security measures and especially on pre-trial detention.

Rama said the current system has placed prison arrest as the starting point, while the new package aims to change this logic.

“A code that starts with prison arrest and then descends to the lighter measures teaches the system this ordering and pushes it to think of prison as the first tool. The new package opposes precisely this logic. The court must start from liberty, examine the softer measures and arrive at imprisonment only when every other measure proves insufficient,” Rama said.

According to him, the court must start from liberty, first examine the softer measures and impose imprisonment only when the other measures prove insufficient.

Rama announced that, according to the proposed changes, for criminal offences punishable by up to 3 years there will be no coercive measures, while for criminal offences with a maximum sentence of under 5 years prison arrest will not be applied.

He also emphasised that the gravity of the criminal offence alone will no longer be enough to impose the arrest measure.

“Thus, for example, for criminal offences punishable by up to 3 years there will be no coercive measures, while for criminal offences with a maximum punishment of under 5 years there will be no prison arrest. The serious nature of the offence, taken alone, will no longer suffice. The risk must be concrete, current and supported by facts relating to the person himself,” Rama said.

The prime minister also addressed the court’s role in assessing security measures. According to him, the judge must give an independent assessment and cannot be satisfied with repeating the prosecution’s arguments.

“The court must give its own independent assessment. If it copies the prosecutor’s arguments and does not reason why the softer measures are not enough, then the decision will be declared invalid and the judge’s disciplinary liability will arise,” Rama said.