From February 8, 2018 to October 31, 2023, 702 subjects, or 87.2% of the 805 subjects present in the ex-offico list, were called to submit to the vetting process.
Source: Akses drejtesi
Comments and Analyses: Open Data Albania
It emerges that, of the 702 individuals called and vetted, 429 are men and 273 women or 61.11% men and 38.9% women. As of November 2023, the process had not yet been completed for 103 drawn subjects or 12.8% of the list.
Table: Gender Balance among Subjects undergoing Vetting, February 2018 to November 2023
Source: Akses drejtesi
Comments and Analyses: Open Data Albania
Source: Akses drejtesi
Comments and Analyses: Open Data Albania
Source: Akses drejtesi
Comments and Analyses: Open Data Albania
Based on their Profile, 377 subjects are Judges; 286 Prosecutors, 21 Legal Assistants; 11 Legal Advisors; 6 Inspectors and 1 Clerk in the High Judicial Council.
In its almost 6 years of work (February 2018 – November 2023), the Vetting process has had the following outcome:
- 251 subjects, or 38.5% of the subjects called to submit to the Vetting, have been fully confirmed and the Vetting process has been completed;
- 152 subjects or 21.7% of those called to submit to the Vetting have beenunreservedly discharged and the Vetting process has been completed;
- 109 subjects or 15.5% of the subjectshave resigned;
- 131 subjects or 18.7% of the subjectsare awaiting the decision of the SAC (Special Appeals College), after appealing the decision of the IQC (Independent Qualification Commission)
- 1 subject or 0.1% of the total has been suspended;
- 43 subjects or 6.1% of the total, based on the decision of the vetting institutions, either retired, passed away or lost the magistrate status.
- 15 subjects or 2.1% of the total magistrates vetted have received a decision only from the IQC, the Independent Qualification Commission, and are within the deadline for appealing the decision to the SAC, Special Appeal College.
Confirmations. At the end of the Vetting process, 251 magistrates have been fully confirmed in office, otherwise 36% of the subjects called to the Vetting or 45.2% of the subjects that have fully completed the Vetting process. The list of names and passports for each Magistrate who has passed the Vetting can be accessed in the Register of Magistrates database, Judges and Prosecutors sections, where, apart from relevant information, access is offered to qualification documents.
In the subjects confirmed in office, based on their professional profile, the following have been confirmed:
-136 judges,
-103 prosecutors,
– 4 legal assistants,
-6 legal advisors and
– 2 clerks in the HJC (High judicial Council) and HIJ (High Inspetorate of Justice)
Expressed in percentage, 54.2% of them are judges, 41% are prosecutors, 1.6% are legal assistants, 2.4% are legal advisors and 0.8% are clerks and inspectors.
Table: Confirmed/fully qualified in office subjects, based on their position in the Institution (until November 2023)
Source: Akses drejtesi
Comments and Analyses: Open Data Albania
Source: Akses drejtesi
Comments and Analyses: Open Data Albania
Source: Akses drejtesi
Comments and Analyses: Open Data Albania
From the total nummber of fully confirmed subjects, 134 subjects are female and 117 subjects are male, or there are 53.8% confirmed female subjects and 46.2% confirmed male subjects. Although there seem to be less of them in the System, the female group has had more success during the Evaluation Process
Table: Data.Al: Gender Balance, Fully confirmed/qualified subjects
Source: Akses drejtesi
Comments and Analyses: Open Data Albania
Source: Akses drejtesi
Comments and Analyses: Open Data Albania
There are 218 subjects, or 87% of the fully confirmed subjects, that were confirmed so by a final decision in the IQC (Independent Qualification Commission) and 34 subjects, or 13% of the fully confirmed subjects, that were confirmed so by a decision of the SAC (Special Appeals College), either leaving in force the IQC’s decision for confirmation in office or overturning their decision to dismiss the subject.
Dismissals. Out of the vetting process, 152 subjects, or 21.7% of the total, were completely dismissed from their duties. Categorized on gender groups, there were 115 men and 37 women completely dismissed from their duties. Among the subjects dismissed from office there were 92 judges, 58 prosecutors and 2 legal assistants, or expressed in percentage, 61% judges, 38% prosecutors and 1% legal assistants.
Table: Dismissed with a Final Verdict subjects by position /institution (until November 2023)
Source: Akses drejtesi
Comments and Analyses: Open Data Albania
Source: Akses drejtesi
Comments and Analyses: Open Data Albania
Source: Akses drejtesi
Comments and Analyses: Open Data Albania
Resignations. Meanwhile, 109 subjects or 15.5% of the subjects called to Vetting resigned from their duties before or during the development of the process. The vetting commissions have stopped examining their case, banning them from being appointed for 15 years in the institutions of the justice system.
Link data and documents for resigned subjects. Among the subjects who resigned, based on their profile, there are 63 judges, 28 prosecutors, 12 legal assistants, 4 legal advisers and 2 inspectors, or expressed as a percentage, 57.8% of the resigned subjects are judges, 25.7% prosecutors, 11% legal assistants, 3.7% are legal advisers and 1.8% are inspectors in justice institutions.
Table: Resigned Subjects, before and during the Vetting
Source: Akses drejtesi
Comments and Analyses: Open Data Albania
Source: Akses drejtesi
Comments and Analyses: Open Data Albania
When divided by gender, there are 72 men and 37 women that have resigned, or 66% of the resigned subjects are men and 34% of them are women
Source: Akses drejtesi
Comments and Analyses: Open Data Albania
Table: Resigned subjects, Gender Balance
Source: Akses drejtesi
Comments and Analyses: Open Data Albania
Appeals. It turns out that the decision of the KPK has taken final form and has not been appealed for 399 subjects. For 379 subjects, the decision of the KPK was appealed, of which 257 cases by the subject itself and by the IKP, the decisions for 92 subjects were appealed. A decision of the KPK has been appealed simultaneously by the subject and the Institution of the Public Commissioner, IKP, and 13 subjects are within the deadline for which the decision can be appealed (November 2023). Expressed as a percentage, the decision of the KPK for 48.3% of the subjects subject to Vetting was not appealed and for 49.7% of the subjects it was appealed, respectively for 36.6% of the subjects by the subject itself and 13.1% by the IKP.
Level of Qualifications and Dismissals for Judges and Prosecutors. Judges of the Court of Serious Crimes of the First Degree have the best indicator in Passability. Specifically, out of 11 judges who already have a final Vetting decision, 10 are successfully qualified (90%). Meanwhile, in this institution we have 2 resignations and 1 dismissal.
The members of the Constitutional Court were defeated in the vetting in 5 out of 6 Assessed Judges. Thus marking the highest level of crashes in Vetting.
If we talk about Judges and Prosecutors (without counselors and inspectors) out of 663 called for Vetting, Only 399 have Completed the Process of which 239 or 60% successfully while 150 or 38% failing. There are also 91 cases which were resigned at the time of the call or submission of the 14% Vetting, whereas for 173 subjects the process is ongoing.
Meanwhile, 37% of the Members of the Supreme Court, called to submit to the vetting, resigned, hesitating to enter the vetting process.
As far as the Prosecutors are concerned, those from the General Prosecutor’s Office and those from the Serious Crimes Chamber of Appeal have the highest confirmation rate.
Source: Akses drejtesi
Comments and Analyses: Open Data Albania
Source: Akses drejtesi
Comments and Analyses: Open Data Albania
Table: The level of confirmation of judges and prosecutors based on the justice institutions (November 2023)
Source: Akses drejtesi
Comments and Analyses: Open Data Albania
Gender Balance. Women have been more inclined to pas the Vetting with flying colors. Around 64% of those submitted to the Vetting have already obtained a final confirmation. Men were only confirmed at a 38% rate. Likewise, women have scored fewer Dismissals and Resignations, proving the widely accepted view that they show more integrity in performing their public functions.
Source: Akses drejtesi
Comments and Analyses: Open Data Albania
Source: Akses drejtesi
Comments and Analyses: Open Data Albania
Source: Akses drejtesi
Comments and Analyses: Open Data Albania
Table: The level of confirmation of judges and prosecutors based on the justice institutions (November 2023)
Source: Akses drejtesi
Comments and Analyses: Open Data Albania
The Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court The vetting has confirmed only 1 member of the Constitutional Court and the remaining 5, otherwise 71% of the members of the Constitutional Court, have been dismissed from office. Meanwhile, 1 member of the Constitutional Court has resigned from his position, resulting in the halting of vetting process towards him.
Table: Members of the Constitutional Court
Source: Akses drejtesi
Comments and Analyses: Open Data Albania
Source: Akses drejtesi
Comments and Analyses: Open Data Albania
Whereas, in regards to the Supreme Court, it emerges that 16 of its 17 members have been summoned to be sumbitted to the vetting process, given that 1 subject had finished his term and retired from its position. Overall, only 2 members of the Supreme Court have been confirmed in office, 8 members have been dismissed and 6 members have resigned.
Table: Members of the Supreme Court
Source: Akses drejtesi
Comments and Analyses: Open Data Albania
Source: Akses drejtesi
Comments and Analyses: Open Data Albania
Overturning of IQC Decisions by SAC. The decisions of the KPK were overturned by the KPA for 42 subjects or 8% of the subjects that have finally closed the Vetting or 6% of the subjects subjected to the Vetting. For 12 subjects, the KPA gave a decision to confirm in office, overturning the KPK’s dismissal/suspension of the subject from office, and for 30 subjects it gave a decision to dismiss from office, overturning the decision of the KPK to confirm in office.
Dismissal from Office. There are 6 subjects that received a decision on their suspension from duty for a period of 1 year and the obligation to follow the training program at the School of Magistrates, of which 1 subject is currently suspended.
The European Court of Human Rights, at present, has overturned at least 3 of the decisions, thus, overriding the legal procedures established and followed by the Albanian institutions. Out of the 3 subjects, there are 2 prosecutors from the First Instance Prosecutor’s Office and 1 former member of the Supreme Court, more specifically, Admir Thanza, Besnik Cani and Antoneta Sevdari.
Grounds for Dismissal. The most largely used criteria for the dismissals, based on the law no. 84/2016 “On the transitional reassessment of judges and prosecutors in the Republic of Albania” is the Asset Control Criterion, Insufficient Disclosure. Therefore, 61.18% of the dismissed persons are due to the insufficient disclosure of wealth criterion. Nevertheless, the institutions’ practice is limited to the verification of the wealth criterion, not delving into all the other criterias, if the latter should prove problematic.
Table: Legal Grounds for dismissal by the Vetting
Source: Akses drejtesi
Comments and Analyses: Open Data Albania
Source: Akses drejtesi
Comments and Analyses: Open Data Albania
Source: Akses drejtesi
Comments and Analyses: Open Data Albania
Source: Akses drejtesi
Comments and Analyses: Open Data Albania
Magisterial students control by HPC and HJC. After the Justice Reform, 174 subjects graduated from the School of Magistrates, of which 108 were judges and 66 were prosecutors. Referring to the categorization based on gender, 107 of the subjects were women and 67 men, or 61% of the new magistrates were women and 39% were men. Starting from 2019, subjects who run for the School of Magistrates go through control procedures twice, both processes carried out by the new Justice Institutions. Law no. 115/2016 “On the governing bodies of the justice system” provides that: “…the High Judicial Council and the High Prosecution Council carry out the verification of the assets and image of the competitors, in accordance with the law “On the status of judges and prosecutors in the Republic of Albania ” and send the final list of accepted candidates to the School of Magistracy. The first vetting is carried out before the candidates are admitted to the School of Magistrates, to start their training to become prosecutors or judges. Submission to the Vetting for wealth and image control, in this case, is done by the High Judicial Council for candidates aiming to become judges and by the High Prosecution Council for Prosecutor Candidates. The vetting is carried out again, always by the HJC and HPC, after the candidates have completed the School of Magistrates and are to be appointed as a judge or prosecutor.
Source: Akses drejtesi
Comments and Analyses: Open Data Albania
Table: New Magistrates
Source: Akses drejtesi
Comments and Analyses: Open Data Albania
The statistical information present in this article is the result of monitoring the Vetting Process and Vetting Institutions, by collecting and structuring data and documents.
AIS has created a database containing relevant information and documents for the Magistrates, confirmed after the Justice Reform.
Download excel: Magistrates submitted to the Vetting, February 2018 – November 2023, Level of Confirmation, Resignations and Statistics by Gender GroupsComments and Analyses: Open Data Albania
Contributed by: Sidorela Drici
Translated by: Rezarta Cushaj
