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The Constitutional Court’s decision on the elderly Gazidedja also referred to the case of two citizens who filed lawsuits in Strasbourg for delays in court proceedings.
On October 12, 2021, the Strasbourg Court fined the Albanian state 5,900 euros for delays in the court cases of doctor Petrit Bara and convict Eduard Kola. The state is obliged to compensate Bara with 1200 and Kola with 2300 euros, respectively.
The court concluded that their right to a trial had been violated within a reasonable time. To the indemnity are added the payments of 1200 euros for each for court costs, bringing to 5900 euros the bill in total. This decision sets a dangerous precedent for the finances of the Albanian state. This is the table with the official data of the High Court where there are stocks of over 36 thousand files waiting to be reviewed.
“These deadlines have already passed, in the high court we have cases that wait for 4-5 some of 7 years, I think 60% of the total cases waiting for review in the high court have passed the reasonable deadline, they are all by analogy that Albania may receive a fine“, Said Gert Shella, Executive Director INFOÇIP.
“There are some decisions of Strasbourg that have forced Albania to compensate the citizens, and at the end of this story those who are harmed are the citizens and not the state“, Said Lavrov Petani, President of the Durrës Bar Association
If the citizens decide to go to Strasbourg, with the precedent of the Bara and Kola cases, the bill goes over 100 million euros for the Albanian taxpayers. But it does not end there. If we add to this number about 20 thousand files in the Administrative Court and several thousand others in the Courts of Appeal, the total bill can exceed 200 million euros.
“It is a rational calculation but here we must not forget, when the delay is ascertained and we come to 200 million damage calculated as a result of compensation for the Albanian state must pay, calculated and years of work to be paid, this bill of 200 million can come and 1 billion, ie 200 multiplication by 5 “, said Gert Shella, Executive Director INFOÇIP.
Against the background of a difficult situation in the judicial system created by the stock of files and the dismissal of magistrates, the High Judicial Council has proposed a new Judicial map. The proposed project envisages halving the number of courts. This has led to harsh reactions from interest groups arguing that access to justice is severely compromised. As we speak today, the judicial system has 408 seats, but about 45% of the seats are vacant due to vetting departures or resignations.
“What was not foreseen by this reform and brought out the problems was the removal of a large number of judges and prosecutors, plus those who resigned brought big gaps in the functioning of the courts, which has hindered the citizen for justice.“, Said Durim Barjamaj, President of the Vlora Chamber of Advocates,
“What I think was done wrong and is presumed to be the wrong methodology was our early proposal on how many vacancies there are in the system and how they will be filled, and then we move on to the redistribution of courts, that if we start from the opposite then judges of the merged courts will again work hard on these issues carried over“, Said Erida Skëndaj, Albanian Helsinki Committee
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