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" Any form of political pressure on the judiciary directly harms citizens and undermines public trust in institutions ."
This was stated by the president of the Albanian Criminal Lawyers Association and former chief judge of the Durrës Court, Joana Qeleshi, following Prime Minister Rama's statements on judges and magistrates. According to her, the pressure of the executive branch on judges is reflected in harsher decision-making towards citizens, pushing them towards extreme security measures.
" Undoubtedly, the pressure of the executive branch or politics in general on the judiciary is reflected further and the consequences come to the citizen. We have seen that in cases where the judicial branch has had great pressure not to appear on TV and portals and judges have taken extreme measures against citizens. It is felt by the citizen, the lawyer and we discuss that because of this great pressure and impunity, we have extreme security measures of imprisonment for any kind of offense. Stay with the measure of imprisonment because the pressure is very great and the judges have a reflection with extreme security measures. This is the tendency of the punitive culture in general ", said Qeleshi.
She emphasized that the judicial process is more fragile than the judges themselves, as they speak only through decisions. This, she said, makes the system vulnerable to political and media attacks.
" The judicial process is weaker because judges speak only through decisions. And this makes it possible for all other powers to anathematize any decision they don't like. Any decision that a journalist or politician doesn't like is anathematized. If there is a mistake, it is corrected by the highest level ," declared Qeleshi.
She recalled that one of the main goals of the justice reform was to restore trust in the judiciary, therefore any individual anathematization of judges severely damages this process. Qeleshi also praised the stance of the Judges' Association towards the Prime Minister's statements and appealed for institutional respect.
" We have had a big problem with public trust in the judiciary. This is why justice reform was implemented. We expect impartial and professional justice. And if we anathematize every decision, then you undermine trust. There are daily problems in decision-making, there are issues and criticism, but individual anathema is always unacceptable. I welcome the decision of the judges' association. We must accept that the system must function. In no case should we have anathema of judges and prosecutors. It is important that we learn in our public discourse not to anathematize the justice system ," she concluded.
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