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Albania: ECHR,vetting of judges necessary against corruption

Following appeal filed by dismissed Constitutional Court judge

10 February, 10:14
(ANSA) - STRASBOURG, 10 FEB - According to the European Court of Human Rights, Albania's procedure adopted in 2016 to assess whether all the country's magistrates have adequate "ethics and professional skills" is a necessary and proportionate solution to combat corruption. In the ruling on the appeal filed by a judge of the Constitutional Court fired following the assessment mentioned above, the Strasbourg judges established that the procedure "was fair and the dismissal was proportional". The former judge had accused, among other things, the bodies in charge of the assessment of not being "independent and impartial" and asserted that the lifetime ban on returning to the judiciary was disproportionate. But for the Strasbourg Court, the entire procedure respects the standards of a fair and impartial trial, and there is no evidence of pressure from the executive on the evaluation bodies. Furthermore, the Court said that the judge was able to present evidence in her defense and that this was insufficient to explain where the money used to buy an apartment came from. According to the Court, the latter point made the expulsion for life from the judiciary right "for serious violations of ethics", since the goal was to "eliminate the corrupt ones from the justice system." (ANSA).

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