The Albanian Helsinki Committee (AHC), with support from the Open Society Foundation Albania, is engaged in monitoring one of the most important processes of justice reform, that of vetting.

On August 9, 2017, AHC submitted a request for information to institutions that collaborate with vetting bodies for the evaluation of assets, the control of the figure, and evaluation of the professional capabilities of judges and prosecutors. Institutions such as the High Council of Justice, the Directory for Security of Classified Information, and the High Inspectorate for the Declaration and Audit of Assets responded partially to the AHC request for information.

However, although 56 days have gone by since filing the request, we still do not possess information from the institution of the General Prosecution Office, which based on articles 3, item 10 and article 40 of the law on vetting (no. 84/ 2016), through its relevant structure, carries out the evaluation of the professional skills of subjects of re-evaluation under its competence, until the establishment of the High Prosecutorial Council.

In the context of transparency before civil society and the public, AHC considers that on such an important issue, there is special interest in providing necessary information about steps undertaken to date by the above-mentioned institutions, which have been assigned direct responsibilities to conduct the necessary verifications and evaluations on all three components on the basis of which the vetting of judges and prosecutors will be realized.

AHC is of the opinion that any delay in this regard has a negative impact on the process of implementation of the vetting legislation, which is considered key for the successful fulfillment of major objectives of reform in the justice system bodies.