TIRANA, February 1 – From Wednesday, the new judicial map came into force in Albania, which was announced some months ago. The HCJ has sent a final decision to the Courts of Appeal in the districts and starting from Wednesday they will be closed. Only the Court of Appeal in Tirana will function.
Meanwhile, the 13 First Instance courts will be closed on May 1.
The Courts of Appeal in Shkodra, Vlora, Durrës, Korca and Gjirokastra will be closed, while only one information office for citizens will remain open. Three civil judicial officers will work in these offices and citizens will only be able to file requests.
With the new judicial map, all the cases which have no date for trial in the Appeal will once again be drawn by lot to determine the judges who will examine them. There are 32,000 files for which the trial has not yet started.
Many lawyers have condemned such a decision which, according to them, will worsen the situation of the consideration of hundreds of pending cases. In addition, this will be a handicap for the interested citizens who will be obliged to travel to Tirana. /Agumentum.al