VOA: Prosecutors in difficulty, loopholes in the system increase the workload

2024-07-08 19:07:54, Aktualitet CNA

VOA: Prosecutors in difficulty, loopholes in the system increase the workload

Source, VOA

In Albania, the prosecution system has been suffering the consequences of the removal of prosecutors due to vetting for several years. In the 15 investigation bodies of the general jurisdiction, 40% of them are missing, tripling the work for the prosecutors on duty.

Experts in the legal field told the Voice of America that this load is putting the quality of the investigation at risk. Heads of the General Prosecutor's Office acknowledge the problem and say that the gaps in the system are expected to be filled in 5 years.

Meanwhile, they clarify that in order to cope with the load, measures have been taken by adding judicial police officers, who are an important support link for prosecutors in investigative processes.

For more than 6 years, since the process of re-evaluation of judges and prosecutors began to produce the first effects, the body of prosecutors has been reduced and today 193 out of 320 prosecutors, or 60% of them, are in the system. According to the Code of Criminal Procedure, prosecutors have deadlines in investigating cases.

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Under the pressure of time to review the files, the investigative bodies have increased the volume of work. The General Prosecutor's Office confirmed to the Voice of America that the number of cases that a prosecutor examines on average per year reaches 500 from the 150-200 that he examined before Vetting started.

But all this load, according to lawyer Redi Ramaj, is jeopardizing the quality of the investigation.

"How can all these files be investigated by a prosecutor. We have magic with the acts of expertise performed by the prosecutor, that is, with receiving their answer. We have deficiencies with long delays in questioning witnesses. We are late with the summoning of the defendants and their questioning and then with the communication of the accusations. There are many cases when the investigations have reached the limit, by not carrying out the investigations requested by the defense side or by returning the files from the court for further investigations to the prosecutor's office. This is problematic for the citizens because the quality of the investigation drops," says Redi Ramaj, lawyer, for Voice of America.

Even the lawyer Dritan Jahaj, told the Voice of America that during the exercise of his profession, he found that the gaps in the prosecutors' corps have caused some problems, while he notes the fact that the time for considering the reports has also been extended.

"Other elements that are noticed in our daily practice are related to the fact that some investigative actions are not carried out, rightfully so, due to the workload of the prosecutors. They don't have the time that a prosecutor should take for a good investigation. This has caused many files to come to the court in pieces, as far as investigative actions are concerned" - says lawyer Jahaj.

The Prosecutor's Office of the General Jurisdiction of Tirana, as one of the largest investigative institutions in the country, in response to the interest of the Voice of America, confirmed that the increase in the number of cases for a prosecutor has led to an increase in the time of consideration of a case, for carrying out of procedural actions, while he did not answer the question whether the quality of the investigation was damaged due to the workload. A prosecutor on average participates in 5 trials a day, explains the Prosecutor's Office of Tirana, and that depending on the section and the criminal offense this number can change. This is how lawyer Ramaj explains this situation.

Prosecutor's Office of Tirana

"The prosecutor can be ready and spend the whole day with security measures in the court, there is no time to conduct investigations. The burden of court hearings, every day and at any time, makes it impossible for the prosecutor, in the official schedule, apart from participating in court hearings and formulating the accusation, to carry out other investigations necessary for the file, or other files that is in the process" - continues Mr. Ramaj.

Leaders of the General Prosecutor's Office are aware of the emerging difficulties, as a result of the high volume of work of prosecutors. Kostaq Beluri, Prosecutor, Director of Coordination at this institution told the Voice of America that the legal spaces have been used to maintain quality.

"There is no question that the workload will affect the quality of the investigation, but in our instructions and suggestions, we have sacrificed more in extending the investigation deadlines than in reducing the quality. So we have logically accepted that it is better for a case to last on time and to carry out all the necessary investigative actions, than to try to finish it as soon as possible and reduce the quality in the investigation of cases. But the situation is not the same, for example, compared to SPAK. I have always said, it is a sacrifice to work in the prosecutor's office of general jurisdiction and to make successful cases, because it does not have the support and infrastructure that this prosecutor's office should have" - ??says Mr. Beluri.

Prosecutor Beluri singles out another element that has influenced the extension of the investigation time. In the Code of Criminal Procedure, a few years ago, the preliminary investigation judge was included, who controls all procedural activity of the prosecutor, decides whether a case goes to trial, returns for further investigations or is dismissed.

"One of the important changes is the inclusion of the link of the preliminary investigation judge in the Code of Criminal Procedure. This link prolonged the process of exercising the criminal prosecution, created difficulties in the duration of an investigation, which definitely had consequences in the process" - continues Kostaq Beluri, Prosecutor, Director of the Directorate of Institutional Coordination in the General Prosecutor's Office.

Representatives of the lawyers' community see the extension of the investigation time up to the limit of the deadlines established in the law, as a violation of freedoms and human rights, since many citizens who are declared innocent remain under accusation or their freedom is violated longer.

On the other hand, experts in the field of justice insist on increasing human resources and the support staff of prosecutors in order to increase the effectiveness of their work. Unlike judges, prosecutors do not have secretaries, while the number of judicial police officers is reduced.

"A prosecutor does not have the necessary assistance, there should be one or two judicial police officers who cover investigations for a prosecutor. They do not have the minimum requirements. If you go to the prosecutor's office in Tirana, you will see that the offices of the prosecutors are smaller than the cells, they are overflowing with files up to the ceiling" continues Dritan Jahaj, lawyer.

The Prosecutor's Office of Tirana, in response to the interest of the Voice of America, said that - "it would be an added help for the prosecutor if he had a secretary, who would facilitate him in procedural matters and the organization of cases".

Prosecutor's Office of Tirana

On the other hand, Prosecutor Kostaq Beluri in the General Prosecutor's Office explains to the Voice of America that the strategy of this institution to reduce the workload of prosecutors aims to increase the number of judicial police officers. 60 of these have been added to the system, making it possible for the number of prosecutors currently in office to be equal to that of judicial police officers. But with the filling of vacancies in the body of prosecutors, this ratio is expected to change to the detriment of prosecutors. An important link in discharging the load, explains Mr. Beluri, would be the prosecutor's assistant, which is currently not provided for in the law.

"Compared to the organization of the work done in other countries, the assistant would be very necessary in the prosecutor's office. The assistant would do those actions that we today try to assign to the judicial police officer, which do not belong to him. It is a variant that is being discussed" - says Prosecutor Beluri.

On the other hand, according to the General Prosecutor's Office, the new judicial map that brought the merger of several courts and, as a consequence, several prosecutor's offices, has brought difficulties in the infrastructure, mainly in the Prosecutor's Offices of Tirana, Durrës, Fier or Gjirokastra.

Experts in the legal field promote legal changes in order to improve the situation in the investigation bodies.

"The constitutional changes that brought about the reform in justice must be looked at, but to be looked at again, cooperation between political forces is needed. Maybe we need changes in the constitution. What didn't go well should be fixed" - Saimir Vishaj, Lawyer, told the Voice of America.

The High Prosecution Council, taking into consideration the trend of departures from Vetting and flows from the magistracy school to the prosecution system, gives this prognosis for the future.

"If we take into account the trend, we think that in 3 years the emergency will pass and in 5 years the situation will return to normal" - Tartar Bazaj, Deputy Chairman of the KLP.

The justice system, courts and prosecutors have 60% of judges and prosecutors in office today, and have been suffering the consequences of vetting for several years. The prosecution is facing a high volume of files, due to loopholes in the system, which is questioning the quality of the investigation. On the other hand, the stock of files in the courts has reached 114 thousand and the workload of judges has increased. The forecasts are not optimistic and the citizens are expected to encounter delays in the delivery of justice for at least the next 5 years./ VOA