In today’s session, the High Judicial Council has accepted the request of the High Inspector of Justice for disciplinary proceedings with the measure “Public reprimand” against judge B.SH., deputy chairman of the Administrative Court of First Instance of Vlora.
This disciplinary investigation dates back to 2021 and was suspended by the HJC in 2022 due to the re-evaluation process, to which magistrate B.SH. was undergoing.
The investigation against the judge was initiated based on continuous complaints to the HIJ by the chancellor, with allegations that the magistrate in the position of deputy chairman of the Administrative Court of First Instance of Vlora, was being obstructive in the exercise of legal duties, preventing the normal functioning of the court.
The disciplinary investigation conducted by the High Inspector of Justice concluded that B.SH. has allowed the non-implementation, without justified reasons, of the decision issued by the High Judicial Council regarding the court chancellery, and has repeatedly, during two meetings of the Judicial Council, failed to respect the legal and sub-legal provisions regulating the organization and functioning of the courts.
The undertaking of these actions by the magistrate is noted in the HIJ report, constitutes a failure to fulfill the duty of the deputy chairman, who is responsible for the smooth running and functioning of the court as an institution, and has created confusion over the exercise of the powers of the chancellery, which is responsible for the management of judicial administration. On the other hand, the non-implementation without reasonable reasons by him as the head of a decision issued by the High Judicial Council is considered as unprofessional behavior, which discredits the position of the head of a court and the image of the judge in particular.
At the end of the investigation, the HIJ, taking into consideration, among other things, the nature of the disciplinary violation, the existence of mitigating circumstances related to the violations for the first time, the cooperation of the magistrate during the investigation, as well as the active assistance to eliminate or reduce the consequences of the violation, reached the conclusion that the actions/inactions undertaken by the Deputy Chaiman of the Administrative Court of First Instance of Vlora, B.Sh., constitute a disciplinary violation provided for by Article 102, point 1, letters “g” and “gj” of Law No. 96/2016 “On the Status of Judges and Prosecutors in the Republic of Albania”, as amended, specifically, as “Minor Disciplinary Violation”.
The High Inspector of Justice proposed to the HJC the imposition of the disciplinary measure “Public Reprimand” against Judge B.Sh., a request that was accepted by the High Judicial Council.