FLASH
Shkruar nga Edmond Hoxhaj
Prime Minister Edi Rama and Justice Minister Ulsi Manja tried to minimize the government's role in drafting the new Criminal Code, but data collected by BIRN shows otherwise.
Faced with a flood of criticism from leaders of the justice system, representatives of the Chamber of Advocates, lawyers and civil society organizations, Prime Minister Edi Rama attempted to distance himself from the government's responsibility for drafting the new Criminal Code, which was published for public consultation a week ago.
In a statement on the social network "X", Rama said that "the Ministry of Justice and the Council of Ministers did not participate in the drafting of the draft, but entrusted it to a group of honored experts, under the leadership of the director of the School of Magistrates, Professor Arben Rakipi."
" So, for now, the government is simply one of many parties in this process and we have received and are studying the draft, to then compare our positions with those of the expert group, " Rama added.
But contrary to what the head of government claims, experts involved in drafting the draft told BIRN that the Ministry of Justice had a coordinating role and contributed directly to its drafting, through its representatives in the working group.
Although the draft was submitted to the Ministry of Justice in 2023, it remained on the shelf for almost two years, until it was made public in a pompous ceremony on July 25.
The draft of the new Criminal Code is the final product of an initiative initiated by the Ministry of Justice in 2019, when this institution was led by former Minister Etilda Gjonaj. The work on its drafting began six years ago, by a working group led by Arben Rakipi. This group also received official approval from the Ministry of Justice in 2023.
In a telephone conversation, Rakipi sent BIRN a list of experts involved in the drafting process. He explained that the Technical Secretariat at the Ministry of Justice, as well as the magistrate assigned to the position of head of the Criminal Law sector at the Directorate for Codification and Harmonization of Legislation, former prosecutor Bledar Mustafaraj, had contributed to the drafting. The latter resigned from his position after the completion of the vetting process by the Independent Qualification Commission, which raised suspicions of his links to organized crime.
According to Rakipi, other members of the working group were: pedagogue Skënder Kaçupi; Supreme Court judge Sokol Binaj; Special Appeal judge Tereza Merkaj; Special First Instance judge Erjon Bani; and Tirana Court judge Gerd Hoxha. From the prosecution, the group included prosecutors Kujtim Luli, Arqile Koça, Ylli Pjetërnika, and Andi Pogaçe.
Rakipi told BIRN that representatives of non-governmental organizations also contributed to the draft, without mentioning specific names.
Several experts on the working group, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told BIRN that the work began at the request of the Ministry of Justice in 2019. They explained that each expert worked on several articles that belonged to their field of expertise. In addition to magistrates and ministry representatives, the group also included professors, legal advisors and lawyers.
"The representatives of the Ministry of Justice in the working group took care to inform and guide us regarding the implementation of European Union directives, which in the draft articles occupy over 30% of the articles, " said one of the experts.
"Also, we have been seeking comments and receiving opinions from justice institutions, as well as other public institutions, throughout the process, in order to ensure that the determination of the forecasts is as close as possible to the actual situation," said one of the experts, who added that he felt independent in his work, explaining that it was voluntary, unpaid.
According to experts, the articles were drafted based on European Union directives, followed by ministry representatives who were part of the group. They also claimed that opinions and comments were received from justice institutions and other public bodies during the drafting process.
Experts pointed out that the draft was completed in the fall of 2023 and sent to the Ministry of Justice. Some of them expressed surprise that it was kept in a drawer for two years, only to be published now.
The publication of the new draft of the Criminal Code has caused debate among justice system actors.
The President of the Supreme Court, Sokol Sadushi, stated during a conference that neither he nor the legal community were familiar with the final version of the project. According to him, the only accessible document was a general version from 2023, which was later expanded into a text with over 900 articles.
The Prosecutor General, Olsian Çela, was not present at the presentation conference and in public statements he stated that he was not familiar with the draft and that the working group did not include experts from the institution he heads. He described the process as hasty and said that it risks damaging the functioning of the penal system. According to Çela, the need for a new penal code should have been discussed earlier, noting that currently the revision of the Penal Procedure Code is more needed.
The head of the Special Prosecution Office, Altin Dumani, stated that he was neither asked for his opinion nor provided with the draft. He added that there is a need for changes to the current Code.
The legal community also reacted, opposing some of the proposed articles. The President of the Chamber of Advocates, Maks Haxhia, stated that a new Criminal Code is not a consequence of the needs of the justice system.
The current Criminal Code entered into force in 1995 and contains 335 articles. It has undergone amendments up to 2017. The new draft Code, published on the official website of the Ministry of Justice, contains 952 articles. After the Constitution, it is one of the most important legal documents in the country./ BIRN
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