The High Inspectorate of Justice asks the High Judicial Council to issue a disciplinary measure of "public reprimand" for the judge of Kukës, Ajshe Xhafa.
The disciplinary investigation against the judge was initiated by the ILD due to her behavior with two other judges, members of the same judicial body.
"The High Inspector of Justice has initiated a disciplinary investigation on its own initiative, against magistrate A. Xh., serving as a judge at the Court of First Instance of General Jurisdiction of Kukës, for the disciplinary violation foreseen as "Repeated or serious violation of the rules of solemnity, rules of conduct in relations with other magistrates", in reference to article 102, point 2, letter "dh" of Law No. 96/2016 "On the status of judges and prosecutors in the Republic of Albania", as amended. This investigation has begun on the basis of reviewing the information reflected in the minutes of a general meeting of judges of September 2024, during which debates were held on several work processes in the court.
From the legal analysis of the facts ascertained during the disciplinary investigation against Judge A. Xh., it results that:
· Magistrate A. Xh., in her capacity as a member of the trial panel, violated the rules of conduct with other magistrates, part of the trial panel, during a public hearing.
· The magistrate's behavior was continuous throughout the session, undermining the trust of the parties present at the session in justice, discrediting the magistrate's position and image, and undermining the integrity and reputation of the court.
· The disciplinary violation by the magistrate was committed with direct intent, as confirmed by the statements given by the magistrate herself during the disciplinary investigation.
· Given the non-normalization of the relationship of the magistrate subject to disciplinary investigation with the other two magistrates, the risk of further inappropriate behavior remains.
· Mitigating circumstance: The magistrate admitted that her behavior in the presence of the parties, in that public hearing, was not in accordance with ethics and that she should not have behaved that way in the presence of the parties.
· Mitigating circumstance: The magistrate has no previous disciplinary measure and has little professional experience, as the violation was committed in her first year of work as a judge.
The High Inspector of Justice concludes that the behavior and actions of magistrate A. Xh., in this case, are assessed as a “minor disciplinary violation”. The disciplinary measure itself contains special prevention, in the sense that the magistrate does not commit disciplinary violations in the future; and general prevention, in the sense that other magistrates understand that such inappropriate behavior should not be committed, as it is punishable by disciplinary measure.
In view of the above, the High Judicial Council is requested to accept the request of the High Inspector of Justice for the imposition of the disciplinary measure "Public reprimand" for Judge A.Xh., as provided for in Article 105, point 1, letter "b" and Article 107 of Law No. 96/2016 "On the status of judges and prosecutors in the Republic of Albania", as amended. (A2 Televizion)
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