The Minister of Justice, Ulsi Manja, organized a roundtable discussion on the new criminal draft today. However, apart from the drafter and several other experts, representatives of SPAK and other justice institutions were absent from the roundtable.
Manja justified their absence by saying they are in a “conflict of interest.” This reasoning raises questions about whether the minister does not understand the notion of conflict of interest, or whether the government's goal is to keep away representatives of the judiciary who often do not align with its interests.
In fact, the changes to the Criminal Code are directly related to the work of justice institutions, which they will have to implement every day. Who knows better than them where the current code is flawed and where it needs to be improved?
Despite this, the minister said he has sought the opinion of Italian experts, while locals who know the terrain better have been left out.
"The draft has also been sent to several Italian experts. In mid-September and until the end of the year, this draft will be subject to a broad public consultation, with 25 consultation tables, including specific aspects of the Criminal Code," declared Manja.
Apparently, the criticisms of the Albanian justice institutions for the project have not been well received by either the minister or his boss. The solution found seems to be to exclude those who will implement the law in practice, so that the draft can pass without obstacles, despite some of its provisions being considered absurd.
