The High Inspector of Justice, Mr. Artur Metani gave an interview for journalists Preç Zogaj and Lorenc Vangjeli in “The Week”, a show on RTSH, about the first year of performance of the institution he leads.
“The HIJ is a new institution and to be candid it has stronger competencies which are more consolidated and more unified than ever before. However, the creation of this institution with democratic standards, according to the rule of law is a challenge not only for Artur Metani or for the HIJ office, but for all the actors and the system as well. This is due to the behavior or the activity of the High Inspector of Justice, which has an impact on the system, and the cooperation among the institutions to make the HIJ Office and other justice institutions fully functional, is the only mechanism to make the reform successful. “
Among the challenges during his first year of work, Mr. Metani singled out the fact that although the HIJ office had the function of investigations and disciplinary proceedings conducted by the inspectors with the profile of judges and prosecutors, there was only one magistrate inspector available. The High Inspector of Justice said that the low interest for applications (zero applications from judges) is related to the high level of required criteria, 13 years of work experience, which is the same experience it takes to run for a member of the High Court. For this reason, Mr. Metani explained that he had proposed to reduce this limit, from 13 years to 7 years, the same criterion required to run for the appellate court, with a view to increasing the number of people to be selected. “I think that judges should be a very important part of the High Inspector of Justice Office, firstly as a balance between magistrate and non-magistrate inspectors and secondly because people who come from the judicial system should maintain the independence of internal conviction of decision-making, which a judge feels more than a person who is not part of the system. For this reason, I insist on these legal changes because I would like the High Inspector of Justice Office to have judge inspectors,” said Mr. Metani
“We have tried to balance the lack of human resources with a lot of work, said the High Inspector of Justice, and I am proud of the results we have achieved, because in addition to working with the high number of complaints received from citizens and institutions, 6 proceedings of magistrates before the councils (HJC and HPC), the institution has also worked to establish its legal infrastructure. We have worked on drafting the strategy and the action plan, i.e. where the institution will go in the next two years; a strategy designed in the cooperation with the civil society, public consultation, and partners assisting justice in Albania. I take pride in the work done by this institution in a few months, despite the months of pandemic with their limitations under the conditions of lacking human resources. In the end we will not focus on the shortcomings, because I think that the most important thing for the public is the performance of our duty based on the constitution, the law and the trust that has been given to us.”
When asked about the promise made when he first took office about reviewing the cases of release of those sentenced to life imprisonment, Mr. Metani said that as well as the cases of magistrates investigated by the High Inspector of Justice during this year, the thematic inspection would continue and in case of finding any illegalities or disciplinary violations, HIJ would intervene according to the competencies provided by law.
“I mentioned before the independence of judges and of course HIJ cannot keep a close eye on judges, but on the other hand, no judge who has committed, will commit or intends to commit violations of the disciplinary level, i.e. the competence HIJ represents, will not go unpunished. The culture of impunity is over. Of course, violations can be committed, intentionally or not; these are things that everyone decides on its own. As far as the High Inspector of Justice is concerned, we are monitoring, in spite of our limited human resources. “Everything is monitorable and we will follow the competences and deadlines provided by law.”
When asked whether justice reform has reduced the impact of politics on the justice system, the High Inspector of Justice replied that he was convinced of this effect. “Absolutely yes, I am convinced when I say ‘yes’, because the constitution and the law today do not create any possibility for the institutions to have illegal, political or any other kind of influence in their decision-making process.”
“In my opinion Justice Reform is one of the most important things happened in this country in the last 30 years. Taking into account that the US and the EU are Albania’s strategic partners, the Justice Reform received their support in every aspect and this was also reflected in its unanimous approval in the Assembly (140 votes). This means that the Justice Reform, its implementation, efficiency and result are a great priority for the society.”
According to Mr. Metani the implementation of the competences of each institution emerged from the reform as well as the cooperation among them in order to make them functional, because the law and the Constitution exist, are a challenge now. “The success or the failure of an institution of justice depends on all justice institutions. We need to cooperate so as to make the Reform successful. Personally, I would like to leave office at the end of my term thinking that I tried and did something for my country. I made my contribution to the Albanian development.
