Rama lambasts another judge over order blocking public-space clearance

Prime Minister Edi Rama publicly criticized judge Klarent Demiri on Friday, alleging the magistrate issued two rulings that blocked the demolition of an illegal structure and the freeing of a public space.

Why is this important: For two months, authorities have run a nationwide drive to clear public spaces occupied by unlawful structures. Most owners dismantled extensions voluntarily; others required enforcement and fines. Some cases have gone to court, testing the government’s campaign against judicial decisions that, it argues, obstruct the public interest.

Context: Rama said he will ask the High Judicial Council to consider disciplinary measures. He has previously faulted a prosecutor who declined to open a case over roughly 10 wooden cabins in Theth and a judge who sought the release of a fully unpermitted apartment block under state seizure that temporarily housed a public institution.

Context: “What must Judge Klarent Demiri have eaten when he took the decision to block the execution of the decision to free this ‘occupied land’?” Rama said. “And he has not taken one, but two such decisions, distinguishing himself as the only judge so far who has openly run counter to the public interest, the interest of communities for the freeing of their public spaces, and the implementation of the government’s program for the benefit of the cities and in function of Albania 2030 in the EU.”

“We will no longer tolerate, either in silence or with our hands tied, any representative of the independent judicial power who would misuse his independence to undermine the independence of the executive power, by obstructing—through the arbitrary misuse of his duty—the implementation of programs, projects or decisions in the public interest. As for Judge Demiri, we will address the independent bodies of the governance and oversight of the judiciary, just as for Prosecutor Gjeli and Judge Balliu, continuing to hope that these bodies, vital for the good governance of the judiciary, will come out of the comfort zone where they have settled.”

According to the Prime Minister: “Justice Reform requires above all the commitment, professionalism and courage of the bodies governing the independent judicial power.”

Next steps: The Prime Minister said the government will file a disciplinary referral to the High Judicial Council regarding Judge Demiri and continue the nationwide public-space clearance with a detailed plan defining boundaries between private interest and public space.