Albania allocates 36 mln USD for justice reform

TIRANA, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- The Albanian government allocated a reserve fund of about 36 million U.S. dollars to meet unexpected expenditures during the reform of the justice system from 2018-2020, the finance ministry informed Tuesday.

State budget projections for the next three years published in the official gazette shows that for 2018 the government has foreseen a reserve fund of 1 billion leks (around 10 million U.S. dollars) for this purpose.

For the next two years, the fund is slated to grow to reach 1.8 billion leks, approximately 18 million U.S. dollars.

These funds also provide for expenses for the High Council of Prosecutor's Office, which has not yet been established and is expected to be constituted in the first quarter of this year.

Meanwhile, 4.5 million U.S. dollars is the amount set in the 2018 budget for vetting bodies that will re-evaluate around 800 judges and prosecutors part of Albania's justice system.

According to official data of the state budget, a fund of 1.8 million U.S. dollars will go for the Independent Qualification Commission, chaired by Genta Bungo, mainly for salaries of this body.

The Appellate Panel, headed by Natasha Mulaj, will benefit from the state budget about U.S. dollars 1.3 million.

Meanwhile, a fund of about 500,000 U.S. dollars is foreseen for public commissioners, according to state budget figures.

The implementation of the vetting law is seen as the key to the success of the justice reform, one of top priorities set by the European Commission for opening of accession talks with Albania. Enditem