TIRANA – The new members of Albania’s High Court have taken oath before the President, Ilir Meta who issued the relevant decrees on their assignment two days ago.
A press release issued by the presidential press office said that the ceremony was organized at the presidential premises during which the three new members of the High Court, Sokol Sadushaj, Ervin Pupe and Ilir Panda swore in on Friday.
After the national anthem was played and the decrees of President Meta were read, the High Court judges took an oath with their hand Albania’s Constitution.
“I solemnly swear that in the performance of my duty I will always abide by the Constitution of the Republic of Albania, the laws in force, and will abide by the rules of professional ethics!” is what the judges had to quote.
Mr. Meta congratulated the new members of the High Court and wished them success in their work.
Attending the swearing-in ceremony were among others the Ombudsman, Erinda Ballanca, the Chair of the High Judicial Council, Nareda Llagami, the Vice-Chair of the High Judicial Council, Maks Qoku, and the Chair of the High Prosecutors Council, Gent Ibrahimi.
Friday’s event is the return of the official protocol according to which senior officials of the judiciary have to take an oath before Albania’s head of state a practice provided by the Constitution violated by the majority earlier. In an unprecedented event, Mr. Meta, a former head of the Socialist Movement for Integration, launched the appeal in defense of the Constitution and a massive protest was held in Tirana on March 3 this year.
In a warning speech against whom he called ‘violators’ of the Constitution the President pledged to continue the struggle in defense of the Constitution. It remains to be seen what will happen after March 15. However, according to opinion-makers, the frightful spread of the coronavirus epidemics could change the confrontational agenda of Albania’s political class for some time. /argumentum.al
