Who will be the country’s new Attorney General?

Who will be the country’s new Attorney General?
This article has been written for Albanian Free Press newspaper and www.afp.al

By Roland Qafoku

Albanian politics finds itself in front of a very important test concerning the justice system. The mandate of the Attorney General, Adriatik Llalla runs out on 3 October and the election of his successor is expected to be a key and crucial moment if this majority is serious about the fight against crime. But how will the 8th Attorney General of the Republic, since the fall of communism, be elected? Will this majority be able to make elect such key official while there’s a complete institutional gridlock? On one side we have an Attorney General whose term in office is running out and on the other, we still don’t have the institution which elects the Attorney General set up. With the constitutional amendments which have taken place, it’s the Prosecution’s Supreme Council the one which submits the candidates and in a way, determines the election of the Attorney General, because Parliament only votes the candidates that the Council submits.

THE INSTITUTIONAL CRISIS

The entire judicial reform resembles a giant carpet which has started to be woven, but nobody knows when it will be completed. It is a reform which is ready on paper, but it doesn’t yet have the institutions from which it will be comprised. The Attorney General Office is one of these institutions. The absence of the Supreme Prosecution Council is necessary, because this is the institution which enables the election of the Attorney General. But, we’re facing a legal dilemma: is Adriatik Llalla going to continue to hold on to his office as Attorney General or is there a need to elect an interim Attorney General who on 4 December will need to replace him officially? Up until now, no official information exists. It looks like the sides will elect the Attorney General based on the legal interpretations that will be made for his election.

ADRIATIK LLALLA’S POSITION

Can Adriatik Llla continue to remain in office? Based on the law on prosecution, no.

But, according to the constitutional amendments which have been made, the mandate of the Attorney General is 7 years, while Lllalla has only been five years in office. Under the old law on the prosecution and the respective constitutional provisions, his term in office ends on 3 December.  But, with the new constitutional amendments, the Attorney General’s mandate has been extended to 7 years. Then, the question is: Must Llalla remain for another two years in office or should he leave on 3 December?

This is where interpretations start. According to the majority, Llalla’s mandate ends in December. But, the Attorney General’s Office is sending signals that Llalla may remain in office for another two years, based on the constitutional amendments, according to which, his mandate now lasts 7 years instead of 5. We have two case laws which relate to this. The first one is Ina Rama’s case, who was appointed as Attorney General without restrictions to her mandate. Following the constitutional amendments that were made, her mandate became 5 years. According to this interpretation, Ina Rama remained in office for 5 years, from November 2007 until November 2012, based on the constitutional amendments and not based on the law which was in power when she assumed office. But there is also another case law. In 1998 with the new Constitution in place, the mandate of the member of the Constitutional Court was reduced from 12 to 9 years and all the members who had been elected for a term in office, had to discontinue this term once the nine year period had expired. So, if Parliament takes these two case laws into account, Adriatik Llalla may remain in office. But there’s another legal problem here. Adriatik Llalla is not entitled to set in motion the Constitutional Court for this confirmation. The law is very clear on who is able to set it in motion. Will this court be set in motion by the ones who are entitled to? This is not yet known.

INTERIM ATTORNEY GENERAL

For the first time in the history of Albanian prosecution there may be an interim Attorney General. He may remain in office for a brief period of time, but he will exert the powers of a regular Attorney General. For this, Parliament must announce the nominees and the voting must be made. But up until today, Parliament says that there are no proceedings in place for the election of an interim prosecutor. Meanwhile, sources from the prosecution confirm that things have started to move, but without providing too many details.

CANDIDATES FOR THE POST OF ATTORNEY GENERAL

How is the new Attorney General expected to be elected? Under the new law, the General Attorney is expected to be elected for a 7 year term in office, without being entitled to renew it.

The new Attorney General is expected to be the 8th one in the history of this institution after the collapse of communism. Among them, only two have managed to complete their term in office, while the 5 others have been discharged. All 7 of them have one thing in common: They have fought crime, but it seems that they have wasted a lot of time enduring the pressure coming from politics.

Petrit Serjani, 1991-1992

During his term in office, authorities arrested Nexhmije Hoxha, Manush Myftiu, Hekuran Isai and Qirjako Mihali. He was removed by Parliament.

Maks Haxhia, February 1992-May 1992

One of the best lawyers in the country, he quickly became the target of the Democratic Party which was in power at that time. He was removed by Parliament. Since that day, he has been working as a lawyer.

Alush Dragoshi, may 1992-September 1997

He was considered to be an honest and professional Attorney General. The opposition of that period, the Socialist Party, accused him of politically motivated arrests. This was the time when Fatos Nano was arrested.

Arben Rakipi, September 1997-March 2002

During his time in office, there were a series of important inquests, among them, the murder of Azem Hajdari.

Theodhori Sollaku, March 2002-November 2007

He will be remembered as the Attorney General who has led a tough battle against the heads of politics and the state. Two parliamentary inquiry committees were appointed for him.

Ina Rama, November 2007-November 2012

The investigations for the blast of Gerdec and the events of 21 January 2011 are two of the most important cases that she has investigated.

Adriatik Llalla, elected on 3 December 2012. His term in office is expected to expire on 3 December 2017.

He was elected consensually, but, as it’s often the case, he also led political battles.

Note: The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Albanian Free Press’ editorial policy.

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