Albanian parliament passes vetting law, judges, prosecutors to undergo scanning

Albanian Parliament approved Tuesday the draft law on transitional qualification assessment of the judges and prosecutors in the Republic of Albania, known as the vetting law.

The draft law, part of the justice reform package, was approved with 88 votes of the majority MPs since the opposition lawmakers left the extraordinary plenary session before the voting process, strongly objecting the bill considering it against Albania's Constitution.

The plenary session was largely dominated by exchange of accusations and heated debates between the majority and opposition as both sides had different views on the vetting law.

The main opposition party, the Democratic Party, convened its parliamentary group on Tuesday morning during which they decided to attend the special session of parliament but not to vote the most important bill of justice reform package.

According to the opposition, the vetting needs to be a legal process rather than a political one.

Even the main majority party, the Socialist Party, convened its parliamentary group during which they confirmed the stand in favor of the vetting bill which required a qualified majority of 84 votes to be approved.

The vetting law is seen as the legal instrument that will scan all judges and prosecutors in Albania's justice system for their professional proficiency, moral integrity and independence from the influence of the organized crime, corruption and political power.

This draft law was drafted with the assistance of the EU and the United States.

Meanwhile, the constitutional changes in framework of the justice reform were approved by consensus on July 22. Endit