Strasbourg court favors dismissal of Albanian prosecutor in EU-backed scrutiny – EURACTIV.com
The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg has ruled in favor of a former prosecutor who was removed from his post during the EU-backed verification process in Albania, but the decision noted that it did not reflect not the whole process in the country.
Albania has undertaken a vetting process since 2016, which provides for the assessment of each judge and prosecutor in terms of wealth, reputation and qualifications. The process is a little more than halfway through and has seen more than half of magistrates resign or be removed from office, paralyzing the High Court and Constitutional Court for some time and leading to a large backlog of cases in all judicial structures.
Former prosecutor Antoneta Sevdari was removed from office in 2019 over a problem with her asset declaration and a breach of public trust in the judiciary. In particular, the ruling said she failed to submit documents relating to taxes paid by her husband as an immigrant in Greece and while working in Saudi Arabia.
The Strasbourg Court ruled the dismissal “disproportionate” but said his case should be considered exceptional.
“The tribunal considers that, on the basis of the overall assessment of the particular circumstances of the case, the applicant’s dismissal, based essentially on the fact that she was unable to prove that her husband was paying taxes on part of the income derived from the activities of lawfully over the past two decades and in the absence of any indication of bad faith or intentional violence on the part of the claimant himself, this was disproportionate to the legitimate objectives of the verification process,” the court ruling said.
It also found a violation of his right to privacy and ordered the payment of costs in the amount of €24,600.
The decision, however, said that “the court does not consider that the operation of the current verification process in Albania in general, based on the Constitution and the verification law, shows such a systemic problem of compliance with the requirements of the convention”.
While the verification process is considered a success in Albania by the EU and US, neighboring countries that have shown interest in a similar initiative have been discouraged by EU officials.
Ministers of Justice of Kosovo and North Macedonia Told a panel in 2021 in Tirana that EU officials had discouraged them from vetting because such reforms could lead to too many dismissals and dysfunctional courts and prosecutors’ offices, as happened in Albania.
(Alice Taylor | Exit.al)