The Albanian Bar Association is staging a four-day boycott in protest against the newly-approved judicial map of the country, which it says “reduces people’s access to the justice system” by reducing the number of courts.

Albanian Lawyers Protest Against Reduction in Number of Courts

The Albanian parliament. Photo: parliament.al

The Albanian Bar Association said on Monday that lawyers will boycott court hearings at all levels for four days from Tuesday to Friday in protest against the new judicial map of the country, which was recently approved by the High Judicial Council.

The Bar Association claimed that the High Judicial Council ignored the problems it had raised, and said that the new judicial map “reduces people’s access to the justice system”.

It said that “the decision to approve the new judicial map violates basic human rights and freedoms which are guaranteed by the constitution”.

Because of the lawyers’ boycott, all scheduled court sessions for this week will be cancelled across the country.

According to the new map, there will be only one Court of Appeal, in the capital Tirana, whereas six district courts of appeal currently exist.

Lawyers said the changes will make access to justice harder for people from remote areas, who will have to travel for longer than before in order to attend court sessions.  

The new judicial map also reduces the number of administrative courts, from four to two, one in Tirana for cases from the north of the country and another in the city of Lushnja for cases from the south. The total number of first-instance courts will be reduced to 12.

The High Judicial Council maintains that the new judicial map will actually improve access to justice. It insisted that “the proposal for the reorganisation of judicial districts creates an innovative approach that increases the efficiency of the judicial system for citizens”.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Justice, which was part of the discussions on the new map, called on lawyers to “contribute to the implementation of the new judicial map, once it is approved by the government and enters into force”.

Some opposition MPs demanded a hearing with judicial institutions on Monday about the new judicial map.

“The situation remains particularly worrying for residents who will have to travel for kilometres or hours to reach the court that is relevant for their cases,” the MPs said in their request.

The new map was also criticised by rights groups as well. Lawyer and activist Adriatik Lapaj said that the closure of courts will harm ordinary people.

“The administration will become even more abusive as the possibility of challenging its decisions in court becomes much smaller,” Lapaj wrote on Facebook on Tuesday.

Source link: balkaninsight.com