Magistrates’ salaries/Bardhi urges Parliament to withdraw the bill: The Constitution is being violated, the justice system must not be pressured

During his speech in Parliament, Democratic Party parliamentary group leader Gazment Bardhi accused the majority of refusing to implement the first two Constitutional Court rulings on magistrates’ salaries, thereby violating them.

On behalf of the Democratic Party, Bardhi requested that the salary bill be removed from the session’s agenda so that consultations could continue. He said he had made the same request at the Conference of Chairs.

According to Bardhi, if the procedure continues in this manner, there is a risk that the Constitutional Court’s third ruling on the matter will also not be respected.

He said Parliament was considering an important issue concerning the status of magistrates that had dragged on for seven years. Bardhi stressed that the Constitutional Court had issued three rulings on the matter and that the one now under consideration was the third, while the previous two, according to him, had either been violated or not implemented by the majority.

Bardhi said the consultation with magistrates had not been effective. He noted that submissions from the judges’ association had been presented during parliamentary committee proceedings, while its leaders had been notified only 30 minutes before they were due to be heard.

For this reason, he called on Parliament to withdraw the bill, arguing that the Constitution was being violated. According to him, sufficient time should be allocated to find a final solution to the issue.

Bardhi stressed that the justice system could not be kept under government pressure and that the financial matters of judges and prosecutors could not be handled irresponsibly if they were to administer justice.