The High Inspector of Justice gave an interview to Top Channel journalist Anila Hoxha, on the progress of the complaint process against magistrates and the HIJ work during the two years, since its establishment as an institution.
Asked about the most common topics of complaints that citizens file with the HIJ and the cities they come from, Mr. Metani said that there are about 4500 complaints administered and from the ones handled it results that the greatest number is about allegations of delays in court proceedings by magistrates which according to the HIJ statistics come mainly from Tirana and Vlora.
“What we have noted with great concern and I want to share it with you is the delay in issuing decisions. So, once the litigation is over, it takes a long time to issue the decision. This results from many reasons and we are trying to balance this situation with the heavy workload that magistrates have, with the lack of magistrates in the system due to other processes that are happening in Albania because of the reform, also due to the complexity of cases, and of course even with the possible cases of judges negligence, or with cases of judges poor professional performance. We have also taken measures for this. We have also prosecuted magistrates for delays in issuing decisions. However, finding the right balance between the time to issue decisions and unjustified delays due to the negligence of judges, but at the same time without affecting the quality of writing the decisions, is something we are seeing as a priority and I call on all judges and prosecutors, to be careful with these procedures. “There should be no delays, yet the quality of writing the decisions must not be affected because this is definitely very important,” said the High Inspector of Justice.
Asked by the journalist about his findings related to the priority announced since taking office, the priority of conditional releases of persons sentenced to life imprisonment, Mr. Metani said:
“At the time the High Inspector of Justice was elected, in January 2020, this was undoubtedly the greatest sensitivity of the society because there were several cases of conditional releases from prisons of some individuals and therefore the first decision made by the High Inspector of Justice at the time was the inspection of conditional releases files, as part of a major thematic inspection because all courts and prosecutors’ offices where there are detention and imprisonment institutions were affected. We proposed some measures. Among them, there were the measures for the dismissal of 3 magistrates. These measures continue even today because there are still magistrates under investigation. An investigation has been completed and sent for proceeding to the HJC. So this is something we have paid a lot of attention. It is neither to be recognized as a success, nor with any consideration. It is a normal working process of HIJ and it is a clear message to any magistrate that HIJ will not breathe down their necks but none of their illegal actions will be tolerated. I have said this since the first interview and I insist on saying it again.”
High Inspector Metani also spoke about the challenge with the files inherited from the former HCJ, HJC, Prosecutor General and the Ministry of Justice, which must be handled by HIJ in the absence of inspectors.
“All inspectors are handling them with priority so that their deadlines will not exceed and the complaints will not expire because of that. However, this is something that is happening, I mean, we are trying to handle every complaint, but it is a heavy workload that we cannot handle, I mean, handling complaints in time. Secondly, the citizens want a solution; they submitted the complaint 5 years ago and it is not normal for a public institution not to respond to the citizen, at least 5 years later. Thirdly, which is also important, I have tried, even though they are old complaints, to proceed magistrates even for these old complaints with the view to reminding everyone that nothing is forgotten,” Mr. Metani highlighted.
Full interview of High Inspector of Justice Mr. Artur Metani with journalist Anila Hoxha for Top Channel
Journalist Anila Hoxha: First of all, thank you. From the inspections carried out so far, but also referring to the citizens’ complaints with the HIJ, what have the Albanian citizens mainly complained about? Is it mainly about judges or prosecutors and is there a figure about it?
High Inspector of Justice, Mr. Artur Metani: Thank you for the interview. To be specific with your question, the institution of the High Inspector of Justice has received 4500 complaints so far. This includes complaints received since 2020, the time the High Inspector of Justice was elected, but it also includes previous complaints or backlog, as they are called, forwarded by other institutions – The High Judicial Council, the High Council of Justice, the Prosecutor General and the Ministry of Justice. The number of complaints has been seen and continues to be seen and handled with priority. About 1700 complaints have been handled by this large group so far. The number of complaints continues to increase significantly. From October, last year, until today the number of complaints has increased significantly. So, in these 4-5 months we have received about 800 complaints. This is a fact to be considered and it shows the reflection of our society about the problems the judicial and prosecution system have today; it may also show the efficiency of the new justice institutions that are functioning, such as the High Inspector of Justice or even the relevant Councils when referring or handling citizens’ complaints. Citizens’ complaints generally focus on the procrastination of court proceedings or investigative files by the prosecution, the biased court decisions, the actions or inactions of prosecutors in certain cases. The largest number of complaints is against judges and not prosecutors. But, what we have noted with great concern and I want to share it with you is the delay in issuing decisions. So, once the litigation is over, it takes a long time to issue the decision. This results from many reasons and we are trying to balance this situation with the heavy workload that magistrates have, with the lack of magistrates in the system due to other processes that are happening in Albania because of the reform, also due to the complexity of cases, and of course even with the possible cases of judges negligence, or with cases of judges poor professional performance. We have also taken measures for this. We have also prosecuted magistrates for delays in issuing decisions. However, I would like to point out that this is a careful balance which must be preserved not only for the delays of judges in issuing decisions, but also for the fact that these delays must not affect the quality of decision-making, because the workload but also the pressure of issuing decisions quickly, can result in poor quality of decision writing. Of course, we do not want that. However, finding the right balance between the time to issue decisions and unjustified delays due to the negligence of judges, but at the same time without affecting the quality of writing the decisions, is something we are seeing as a priority and I call on all judges and prosecutors, to be careful with these procedures. There should be no delays, yet the quality of writing the decisions must not be affected because this is definitely very important.
Journalist Anila Hoxha: What cities do most complaints come from, if we were to divide or list them?
The High Inspector of Justice, Mr. Artur Metani: Yes, the largest number of complaints comes from Tirana, about 600, then Vlora, Durrës, Fieri, and Shkodra and then every city has a small number. But, I can say that Tirana is the leader…
Journalist Anila Hoxha: Is this because it has the largest number of cases and it has the highest flow of cases or referring to alleged violations?
High Inspector of Justice, Mr. Artur Metani: Yes, I believe that Tirana has courts with the highest number of cases because it is the most populated city. Undoubtedly, there are more court conflicts, more cases to be tried, but it is also the fact that citizens who live in Tirana can come more easily to the Office of the High Inspector of Justice compared to those who live in other districts. Of course, complaints can be sent by mail, but being in the same city, makes it probably easier to contact the Office of the High Inspector of Justice. For this reason, we are looking at other forms of communication with citizens, in addition to what we have on our website and the facilities we try to create for the citizens of the districts to file their complaints. We are trying to make a program to go to the cities, to make the role of the High Inspector of Justice clearer for the public, so that citizens can have more contact with the HIJ Office.
Journalist Anila Hoxha: Do citizens mostly complain about violations related to trials and criminal investigations, or violations related to administrative and civil cases?
High Inspector of Justice, Mr. Artur Metani: It is the later, so there are more complaints about cases of civil and administrative courts, but without a doubt, there are a large number of complaints about criminal trials as well. There is a considerable number of complaints, about 50, coming from people serving their prison sentences. But the biggest dynamic comes from civil and administrative cases.
Journalist Anila Hoxha: Since we are talking about criminal cases, you have proposed and perhaps approved some measures regarding judges and prosecutors for early release. How did you find the justice system in this area? What were your findings?
High Inspector of Justice, Mr. Artur Metani: At the time the High Inspector of Justice was elected, in January 2020, this was undoubtedly the greatest sensitivity of the society because there were several cases of early conditional releases from prisons of some individuals and therefore the first decision made by the High Inspector of Justice at the time was the inspection of early conditional releases files, as part of a major thematic inspection because all courts and prosecutors’ offices where there are detention and imprisonment institutions were affected. We proposed some measures. Among them, there were the measures for the dismissal of 3 magistrates. These measures continue even today because there are still magistrates under investigation. An investigation has been completed and sent for proceeding to the HJC. So this is something we have paid a lot of attention. It is neither to be recognized as a success, nor with any consideration. It is a normal working process of HIJ and it is a clear message to any magistrate that HIJ will not breathe down their necks but none of their illegal actions will be tolerated. I have said this since the first interview and I insist on saying it again.
Journalist Anila Hoxha: Did you find, during these thematic inspections, a justice system that was willing to open the doors for early release to individuals considered dangerous?
High Inspector of Justice, Mr. Artur Metani: It was a phenomenon that was happening and that is why we took measures against specific magistrates; measures which were concretized with proposals for dismissals to the Councils. It is a process that I do not want to talk about because it is a process that continues in the Special Appeal Chamber. For this reason I would not like to get involved with other comments about it, but the facts speak for themselves.
Journalist Anila Hoxha: Are there any more requests of individuals of this genre I call dangerous, who continue to demand early conditional releases, after these inspections? So, did the HIJ inspections work?
High Inspector of Justice, Mr. Artur Metani: Request… I cannot know if there are requests because they do not come to me. The requests are addressed to the courts, but the fact is that we have no information that people have been early released because of this institute of law.
Journalist Anila Hoxha: So, the judges and prosecutors have received the message?
High Inspector of Justice, Mr. Artur Metani: Once again, this is a working process and it is neither for consideration nor for success. This is a normal working process of public institutions and I appreciate that even magistrates understand this.
Journalist Anila Hoxha: Is the HIJ currently conducting a certain inspection with a certain theme?
High Inspector of Justice, Mr. Artur Metani: Yes, today we have two thematic inspections, which I believe we will process within a very short time. They are related to the measures taken by some prosecutor’s offices and courts for illegal possession of weapons, i.e. security measures. Another decision on thematic inspection about issues of implementation of instructions of a general nature of the Prosecutor General.
Journalist Anila Hoxha: However, HIJ is working to some extent with a limited staff… Have you filed requests in order to expand the entire organizational structure of HIJ and of course as long as you control all justice in the country with 8 inspectors, can they also be called insufficient?
High Inspector of Justice, Mr. Artur Metani: Yes, there are 26 inspectors in the organizational structure. So, there should be 26 inspectors in the institution – judges, prosecutors and non-magistrate inspectors. We currently have 8. Of course, 26 does not compare to 8 because of the workload. For this reason, for 16 months now, I have proposed legal changes and submitted it to the Ministry of Justice as well as to the Law Commission, to reduce the candidacy criteria for those who want to be part of HIJ as magistrate inspectors. I understand that there is a debate, it can be a legal debate, because it is a legal choice, but on the other hand it is a situation that needs to be resolved. If we do not lower the criteria for judges who want to come here as inspectors, then what are we going to do, how are we going to attract the few judges who are left in the system, until the courts are filled with judges?! So this is a dilemma of the whole system, but on the other hand it is a thing that needs to be solved, it needs to be addressed and given a solution.
Journalist Anila Hoxha: Have you received a solution in the meantime, an answer?
High Inspector of Justice, Mr. Artur Metani: No.
Journalist Anila Hoxha: And this of course affects the effectiveness, what comes next?
High Inspector of Justice, Mr. Artur Metani: What I am afraid of, and I do not want, is to create the impression that the work can be done even with 8 inspectors… You cannot work with 8 inspectors! People are getting tired because they want to respond to citizens. People are getting tired because they want to meet every obligation that a public institution has, but on the other hand there are some limits to their workload. Undoubtedly, citizens, the media and everyone else, do not want to know how much work the inspector or the High Inspector of Justice has, they want solutions. For this reason the balance of these difficulties must find a solution if not legal, a practical one.
Journalist Anila Hoxha: What will the next step be after this proposal for changes to reduce to some extent the criteria that have been set, which as far as I understand are rigid, as long as you have not received an answer? Will you make a second proposal?
High Inspector of Justice, Mr. Artur Metani: The proposal is still in the Assembly, i.e. in the Ministry of Justice and the Assembly. I do not know how the Ministry of Justice and the Assembly will proceed. I hope that this issue will be proceeded quickly, at least in a really professional discussion. Secondly, depending on the solution that the Assembly will offer us, we will start taking steps to find a solution to avoid all this burden. It is important to say, that about 4500 complaints are a lot and this number, as I said, includes a large group of the backlog of complaints. They are very important, first of all I would not like their statute of limitations to expire. All inspectors are handling them with priority, so that their deadlines will not exceed and the complaints will not expire because of that. However, this is something that is happening, I mean, we are trying to handle every complaint, but it is a heavy workload that we cannot handle, I mean, handling complaints in time. Secondly, the citizens want a solution; they submitted the complaint 5 years ago and it is not normal for a public institution not to respond to the citizen, at least 5 years later. “Thirdly, which is also important, I have tried, even though they are old complaints, to proceed magistrates even for these old complaints with the view to reminding everyone that nothing is forgotten,
Journalist Anila Hoxha: Thank you for the interview!
