In Albania, the Supreme Court announced today the opening of the procedure for the election by the Supreme Court of a new member of the Constitutional Court with a full 9-year mandate, who should replace the current president of this court, Holta Zaçajn.
The decision of the Supreme Court comes a day after Ms. Zaçaj publicly announced that her term did not end on March 10, 2025. Official communications reveal that Ms. Zaçaj was fully aware that her term officially ends on March 10, 2025. March of the following year, in contrast to the public position held by her. At least two Supreme Court notices in 2021 and 2022 announcing the vacancy clearly defined the deadline. Also, Mrs. Zaçaj herself, in her candidacy application, refers to March 2025 as the end of the mandate for which she was running.
Ms. Zaçaj was appointed as a member of the Constitutional Court in January 2023, succeeding Judge Vitore Tusha, whose mandate ended on March 10, 2017. Her appointment was included in the scheme provided for in the transitional provisions of the Constitution. , reflected in the Law on the organization of the Constitutional Court, which guaranteed the renewal of the Court every three years, with three members each.
Precisely for the implementation of the renewal cycle, the subsequent mandate of Mrs. Vitore Tusha was limited to 8 years, so that together with the subsequent mandates of former members Sokol Berberi and Vladimir Kristo (ended in 2016), the group of three members was created , one for each naming body, to be replaced in 2025.
"Such a solution confirmed the renewal of the Constitutional Court as a constitutional obligation that prevails over the 9-year duration of the judge's mandate", underlines the Supreme Court, in today's notice announcing the vacancy, signed by its president Sokol Sadushi.
Mrs. Zaçaj, made an unexpected move yesterday, while ignoring the legal framework according to which she was elected, interpreting herself, the end of her mandate, not on March 10, 2025, but "based on the general legal rules for the calculation of deadlines, the end of the year 2025 will have to be considered as the deadline for the exercise of the duty . Although she does not refer to any legal basis for this calculation, as an argument for the non-recognition of March 10, 2025, she mentioned the fact that according to her "neither the constitutional provision, therefore nor the decision of the Supreme Court on the election of the constitutional judge, has a date determined for the completion of this task" .
But the truth seems to be completely different. Today's announcement of the Supreme Court reveals in fact that this court, when it twice announced the vacancy for Mrs. Tusha's subsequent mandate, also determined the time of the end.
"In the notification of the Supreme Court dated 3.06.2021, it is determined that the announcement of vacancies for members of the Constitutional Court is made as follows: "1. In the vacant place that is created after the departure of Mrs. Vitore Tusha (the full 9-year term ended in 2017), the new judge is elected, who remains in office until March 2025" . Due to the limited number of applicants, even in the announcement dated 31.01.2022 made by the Supreme Court to fill the vacancy after the departure of Mrs. Vitore Tusha, it is expressly stated: " ...The President of the Supreme Court re-announces the call to fill the vacancy created by the end of the mandate of the judge of the Constitutional Court, for the remainder of the 9-year mandate, which ends in March 2025 ", announced today's communication of the Supreme Court.
Moreover, according to the official documents, " Mrs. Holta Zaçaj, in the two requests for review of the application, which she addressed to the Supreme Court and the Judicial Appointments Council, on the dates 25.02.2022 and 30.11.2022, expressed her will for the election in the "remaining term of the mandate 9 ( nine) years, ending in March 2025 of Mrs. Vitore Tusha" , specifies the Supreme Court.
These facts burden the position of the president of the Constitutional Court even more, as it turns out that she has provided false information to the public, and even based on them, she has addressed the Venice Commission, without first consulting with the body of members. of the Court.
On the other hand, using as arguments data that do not hold, Ms. Zaçaj, has bypassed the constitution and the law, by not declaring the end of her mandate, thus creating an artificial crisis and an unnecessary clash with the Court High.
The latter has estimated that while " the Constitutional Court has not fulfilled the obligation to declare the end of the mandate of Mrs. Holta Zaçaj, nor the announcement by the President of the Constitutional Court about the end of the judge's mandate.. "the Supreme Court itself" as the naming body is tasked by Article 125, point 1 of the Constitution to exercise its exclusive competence for the election of the member of the Constitutional Court , without being hindered by any other constitutional body ".
The Supreme Court notes that " the failure of the Constitutional Court to be set in motion by its president to announce, no later than 10.12.2024, the end of the mandate of Ms. Holta Zaçaj cannot prevent or avoid the exercise by the Supreme Court and the Judicial Appointments Council of the constitutional competence to elect a new member of the Constitutional Court .
According to the president of the Supreme Court, Mr. Sadushi , "the announcement of the end of the mandate of the judge of the Constitutional Court by its president as a formal act, serves to announce a vacancy, clearly defined in the entire procedure followed by the Supreme Court, as a naming body and does not bring any consequence to the validity of the procedure that is developed for this purpose " and that otherwise " the failure to fulfill the legal obligation by the president of the Supreme Court to open the procedures for admission of the application for candidacy for members of the Constitutional Court would prevent the Judicial Appointments Council from starting the procedure of verifying and ranking the candidates, as well as in particular the Supreme Court from exercising its constitutional power to fill the next vacancy in the Court Constitutional" ./Voice of America (A2 Televizion)
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