Alfred Balla challenges the College's decision to terminate his mandate

Dozens of judges and prosecutors have been dismissed over the years by the decision of the Special Appeal Board, but the head of the High Prosecution Council, Alfred Balla, seems to have decided in an unprecedented way to challenge the decision-making of the second instance of vetting.

After the vice president of the KLP, Tartar Bazaj, called a plenary meeting for Monday with the purpose of "declaring the end of the mandate" for Balla, the latter announced on Friday that he had called a second meeting of the KLP, on the same day and hours.

Through the official account of the KLP on Whatsapp, Balla called the meeting in order to interpret the decision-making of the KPA for its vetting process.

"..Discussion of the influence or not of the decision No. 23, dated 21.05.2024 of the Special Appeal Board on the status of the member of the KLP, elected by the Parliament as part of the Albanian Civil Society, Mr. Alfred Balla," it is said in notice.

The Special Appeals Chamber decided on May 21 to remove Balla from the justice system for a period of 15 years, overturning a first-instance decision that ended his trial without a verdict. Balla's current position as chairman of the KLP contradicts the decision of the KPA.

However, in the announcement distributed on Friday, Balla claims that the KPA did not "analyze and prove facts that made my election as a non-magistrate member of the KLP questionable, in order to have room to apply Article 149/bi of the Constitution" .

"In any case, a meeting of the Commission and the Council is scheduled for next week, and this problem will be analyzed and evaluated by the High Prosecution Council itself," adds Balla, emphasizing that his mandate has ended, but he is waiting for the appointment of the person who will replace him.

Asked by BIRN about the parallel agenda proposed by Balla, the deputy chairman of the KLP, Tartar Bazaj told BIRN that the decision of the KPA leaves no room for interpretation.

"I was obliged to implement the constitutional obligations and call an urgent meeting, because the decision of the KPA is a decision of the Constitutional Court and there is no room for interpretation, but it must be implemented immediately," said Bazaj.

According to the constitutional provisions, the tax for the end of the mandate of a member of the KLP is borne by the Council itself. Baze said that by calling the meeting for Monday, he had "exhausted his mission". Alfred Balla underwent the transitional reassessment process due to his work as a legal assistant in the Supreme Court until July 31, 2017, which was determined by the legislation on the vetting of magistrates. In the KPK, the body assessed in the majority that Balla had lost his status as a magistrate after he was dismissed by the head of the Supreme Court in July 2017 and closed his process without a final decision.

The Public Commissioner, Florian Ballhysa, appealed the decision of the KPK to the College, requesting the imposition of a 15-year sanction, which was considered fair by the College. BIRN