HJC shuts the door on appointment to the Appeal Court, Pamela Qirko’s request rejected

The High Judicial Council did not approve Pamela Qirko, a former member and former chair of the Independent Qualification Commission (KPK), who had sought to become a judge at the Court of Appeal of General Jurisdiction.

Also known as the sister of former Deputy Prime Minister Belinda Balluku, Qirko was one of 10 jurists from the vetting institutions who had applied to become part of the Courts of Appeal after the end of their constitutional mandate.

The decision was made at the plenary meeting held this Friday, where the HJC rejected her request, not clearing the way for her move to the second tier of the judiciary.

With the same decision, the council also rejected the applications of her 9 colleagues from the KPK: Suela Zhegu, Firdes Shuli, Alma Faskaj, Brunilda Bekteshi, Olsi Komici, Valbona Sanxhaktari, Xhensila Pine, Etleda Çiftja and Roland Ilia, for now closing off their possibility of being directly appointed to the Appeal Court panels. (BalkanWeb)

Announcement:

Today, on 10.07.2026, the High Judicial Council held its next plenary meeting, where it reviewed the matters listed below:

In implementation of its legal obligations, the Council approved the report on the ethical and professional evaluation of Judge Ms. Brunilda Kadi for 2024.

It was also decided to postpone the review of the draft decision “On the ethical and professional evaluation of Judge Mr. Adrian Shega for the period 2021-2023”.

The Council drew lots to appoint the rapporteur for disciplinary proceeding no. 1/2026, which was initiated against magistrate Ms. Suela Dashi, serving as a judge at the Gjirokastër Court of First Instance of General Jurisdiction.

It also approved the extension of the period of Judge Mr. Sokol Ibi’s stay in the delegation scheme.

After that, the Council issued the decision on the reassignment of delegation-scheme judge Mr. Sokol Ibi to the Administrative Court of Appeal.

At the same meeting, the Council rejected the requests for appointment as judges at the Court of Appeal of General Jurisdiction for:

Ms. Suela Zhegu; Ms. Firdes Shuli; Ms. Alma Faskaj; Ms. Brunilda Bekteshi; Ms. Pamela Qirko; Mr. Olsi Komici; Ms. Valbona Sanxhaktari; Ms. Xhensila Pine; Ms. Etleda Çiftja; Mr. Roland Ilia.

After the draw, the Council also decided on the replacement of the official responsible for evaluation, Ms. Merita Karaj, in the ethical and professional evaluation procedures of judges.

Meanwhile, the procedure for verifying the assets and background of candidate Ms. Kledjana Llalla, for the initial training program at the School of Magistrates, for the 2026-2027 academic year, legal assistant profile, was declared concluded without a final decision.

The Council also postponed the review of the draft decision “On the redistribution (transfer) of budget funds in program 03310, the courts’ budget, under current expenditures, for the 2026 budget year”.

Finally, the minutes of the High Judicial Council meetings of 29.04.2026 and 06.05.2026 were also approved.