Frequent questions on HIJ complaints

This process is carried out to verify the complaints, investigate the disciplinary violations and to initiate the disciplinary proceedings against:

1. Judges and prosecutors of all levels;
2. Members of the High Judicial Council;
3. Members of the High Prosecutorial Council; and
4. The Prosecutor General.

But not against the Judges of the Constitutional Court.

Any natural or legal person can file a complaint with the HIJ.

Disciplinary violations are investigated by the HIJ, based on the procedures and rules provided for in law no. 96/2016 “On the Status of Judges and Prosecutors in the Republic of Albania”, as amended.

You can complain about acts or omissions, which constitute failure to perform the duty, or unprofessional or unethical behavior during the exercise of the function or outside it, which discredit the position and image of judges and prosecutors of all levels in the Republic of Albania, of members of the High Judicial Council and High Prosecutorial Council, of the Prosecutor General, or destroys public confidence in the judicial system and prosecution office.

The HIJ is not a competent authority to review complaints against chancellors, legal assistants, chief secretaries, court secretaries, summoners, other employees of the judicial administration, judicial police officers, lawyers or public or private bailiffs, or other entities participating in an investigative or judicial process. Complaints against these officials must be submitted to the relevant authorities, which are responsible for disciplinary procedures referring to the special law.

In order to facilitate the appeal process as much as possible, the High Inspector of Justice Office has created a standard appeal form, which is available on the HIJ website and can be sent in three ways: online, by mail or in person.

• The complaint form, ready to be filled out and sent online, is available at “Complaint Form”
• The form can also be downloaded “Download the Form” to be filled out and sent in one of the following three ways:
  • via email at info@ild.al;
  • by mail to the address: Inspektori i Lartë i Drejtësisë, Bulevardi “Dëshmorët e Kombit”, Godina nr. 13, Tiranë; 
  • or in person at the institution premises.

In order to fill out the complaint form correctly:

• You can refer to the relevant guide  (“Guide to fill the complaint form”);
• or the completed complaint form model (“Completed complaint model”).

In cases you cannot fill out the complaint form yourself, you can be assisted by the complaints unit team, which can help to facilitate this process by assisting and orienting you on the format of filling out the complaint and its criteria, every working day from 09:00 to 14:00, at the HIJ premises.

Upon receiving your complaint, the High Inspector of Justice confirms its receipt in writing within 5 days. This process is called complaint confirmation.

Also, in case your complaint is not the object of the HIJ activity, the responsible unit of the HIJ forwards your complaint to the competent institution, notifying you as well.

After the receipt of the complaint has been confirmed, the High Inspector of Justice has a period of 3 (three) months from its receipt, to review it, to obtain information and analyze it, in order to confirm the veracity of the claims.

The review determines if the complaint satisfies the requirements set by the law to be admissible. But due to the backlog of complaints accumulated over several years, inherited from other institutions, this process may require more time, as the HIJ follows an approved methodology for reviewing each complaint according to criteria related to:

• date of submission;
• the stage of handling inherited complaints;
• typology or urgency of treatment,
• the limitation periods of the complaint.

After the initial review of the complaint, the High Inspector of Justice may decide:

1. to archive the complaint, since it does not meet one or more criteria of admissibility;
2. to verify the allegations in the complaint when there is incomplete or unclear evidence, from different sources (other bodies; with the subject of the disciplinary investigation; the head of the body where the magistrate exercises his duties, etc.) or to request clarifications or other documentation by the complainant;
3. to start the investigation when, after analyzing the evidence, there are reasonable doubts that the violation may have been committed.

The law provides several criteria for the admissibility of the complaint. Therefore, the High Inspector of Justice first examines the complaint in terms of fulfilling these criteria:

• The way the complaints are made: that is, if the complaints are made in writing;
• The subject information: your name, surname and address, as well as whether you require the confidentiality of your identity;
• The description of the facts and circumstances about which you complain;  (Example)
• The name and surname of the judge or prosecutor, as well as the court or prosecutor’s office where he/she exercised the function, at the time when the allegation about which you are complaining occurred;
• If the alleged violation occurred within 5 years from the submission of the complaint; (Examples)
• If there are no abusive elements in the content of the complaint, the complaint is not clearly unfounded or repeated by the same complainant; (Example)
• The conduct of the magistrate, who was on duty at the time when the allegation about which you complain occurred; (Examples)
• The conduct of the magistrate, provided as a disciplinary offense by the law in force, at the time when the alleged offense occurred; (Examples)
• The conduct of the magistrate which, if proven to have been committed, constitutes a disciplinary offense provided by the law. (Examples)

If one or more of the complaint admissibility criteria (see “What are the conditions for accepting the complaint”) are not met, then the High Inspector of Justice issues the decision to archive the complaint.

You will be notified of the decision to archive the complaint and of your right to appeal.

The High Inspector of Justice informs you about the decision to archive the complaint, about your right to appeal, as well as where you can appeal the decision, along with the deadline within which you can make the appeal.

If you have complained against a judge, you must submit the appeal against the HIJ decision to the High Judicial Council, but if you have complained against a prosecutor, you must submit the appeal to the High Prosecutorial Council, within one week of receiving the notification of the HIJ reasoned decision.

If you have complained against a member of the High Judicial Council or the High Prosecutorial Council for alleged violations during the exercise of this function, you must submit the appeal against the HIJ decision to the Appeal Chamber.

You can send a request for information to the High Inspector of Justice about the progress of your complaint, using the official e-mail, the postal service, or in person at the institution premises.

Only the complainant who filed the complaint has the right to receive information about the progress of the complaint.

No! Please note that the High Inspector of Justice has no authority to review or change the decisions of magistrates. They are reviewed through judicial appeal instruments, only by the highest courts. The High Inspector of Justice investigates disciplinary violations that magistrates may commit while exercising their function or outside of it.

So, the High Inspector of Justice has no authority to influence the judge or prosecutor, so that you get a different result in your case. If you intend to change the outcome of your case, then you must turn to the court appeal process.

You are free to withdraw your complaint at any time.

As a rule, the withdrawal of the complaint leads to the archiving of the complaint. But in cases where the High Inspector of Justice assesses that there are sufficient reasons in the complaint for conducting the investigation on his own initiative, he decides to continue with the investigation procedures.