The Office of the High Inspector of Justice has completed the verification of the information made public mainly in the media, regarding the tragic event that occurred in Tirana on March 1st, 2023, in which citizen Dan Hutra claimed the lives of three women and wounded three others including his cohabitant.
The HIJ considers in advance that the facts (acts or omissions of the magistrate), which may constitute disciplinary violations, pursuant to law no. 96/2016 “On the status of judges and prosecutors in the Republic of Albania” as amended, are not only the ones presented in the public information, but the ones that are analyzed by the High Inspector of Justice, or evaluated based on a process of verification or disciplinary investigation. A set of facts which are claimed to have occurred and which can constitute a disciplinary violation, may be made public and presented in a public information but it is the High Inspector of Justice who can correctly or differently define the facts and actions related to the disciplinary violation, no matter what the public information claims.
In order to verify this case, the High Inspector of Justice has administered additional data and relevant documentation received from the Prosecution Office attached to the Judicial District Court of Tirana and the Judicial District Court in Tirana, the Court of Appeal of General Jurisdiction, the Prosecution Office attached to the Judicial District Court in Durrës and the Judicial District Court of Durrës, the Prosecution Office attached to the Judicial District Court in Korçë, the Prosecution Office attached to the Judicial District Court of Kukës and from the General Directorate of Prisons.
- From the verifications of the media information about the release from prison of citizen Dan Hutra, his release appears to have been as the result of a judicial process with the object “Request for cancellation of preventive measures”, and the decision-making of judge G.H. was in accordance with the law, since the convict had completed the term of his sentence due to his period of precautionary detention in prison, which is calculated as part of the imposed sentence.
- From the verifications of the media information related to the summary trial for citizen Dan Hutra, for the criminal offense “Domestic Violence”, it results that judge G.H., exercising his powers to assess the validity of a procedural act, according to the relevant regulation in the Code of Criminal Procedure, has also included the defendant’s position to be informed of the request of prosecutor R.K., by accepting the summary trial, as a trial that uses the facts and acts in the prosecutor’s case file. The defendant chooses not to argue the evidence or to request for invalidity, by accepting to be judged on the basis of the data obtained in the stage of preliminary investigations, thus benefiting from a reduction in 1/3 of the penalty, if convicted.
- From the verifications of the media information about the length of Dan Hutra prison sentence of 1 year and 6 months, it results that the request of the prosecutor and the decision-making of the judge are in accordance with the judicial discretion of the magistrate to reach a verdict based on the presented facts, including the previous conviction of the defendant for the murder of his wife and the legislation provisions for the criminal offense “Domestic Violence” (Article 130/a/1 of the Criminal Code), a decision also confirmed by the Court of Appeal of General Jurisdiction.
- In relation to the non-administration of the certificate of judicial status, referring to the analysis for the individualization of the punishment, under the conditions where in the context of the aggravating circumstance according to Article 50/1/ç of the Penal Code the defendant’s previous conviction for his wife murder was taken into consideration, it is appreciated that the ascertained lack of administration of the certificate of judicial status cannot be assessed as failure to fulfill the function during the trial within the disciplinary violation, according to the provisions of Article 101 and Article 102, paragraph 1 letter “ç” no. 96/2016 “On the status of judges and prosecutors in the Republic of Albania”, as amended.
In the analysis of the administered documentation, it was found that regarding the legal procedures followed during the investigation, trial or execution phase of the criminal case registered in 2022, in the name of the citizen Dan Hutra for committing the criminal offense “Domestic Violence”, provided by Article 130/a of the Criminal Code, as well as the legal procedures followed during the investigation, trial or execution phase of other possible criminal cases registered in the name of citizen Dan Hutra, the High Inspector of Justice found no acts or omissions of the magistrates, which create a reasonable doubt for the HIJ to initiate the disciplinary investigation according to the requirements of article 122, paragraph 1 of law no. 96/2016 “On the status of judges and prosecutors in the Republic of Albania”, amended.
Under these circumstances, the High Inspector of Justice, pursuant to articles 120 and 121, paragraph 2, letter “a” of law no. 96/2016 “On the status of judges and prosecutors in the Republic of Albania”, as amended, article 204 , paragraph 1, letter “j” and article 2014 of law no. 115/2016 “On the governing bodies of the justice system”, as amended, has decided to archive this case, after the verification of the information made public mainly in the media regarding legal procedures followed during the investigation, trial or execution phase of criminal cases registered in the name of citizen Dan Hutra.