Today, on 10.05.2022, at 10:00, the Appeal Chamber held the public plenary session of case (JD) no. 4/2021, dated 21.05.2021, pertaining to the appeal of the appellant Enkeleida Hoxha against decision no. 92, dated 17.03.2021 of the High Judicial Council, with interested parties, the High Judicial Council (HJC) and the High Inspector of Justice (HIJ).
During the verification of the presence of the parties, the presiding judge of the hearing informed the parties that the Penitentiary Institution has notified through a letter forwarded today, before the initiation of the public hearing, that the appellant cannot be present at the hearing due to health and psychological reasons. The Chamber carried out the relevant verifications regarding the ground submitted by the appellant for failing to attend this hearing, and through the General Penitentiary Directorate, it received an electronic notification stating that the penitentiary institution physician has concluded that the appellant is in good health.
Taking into consideration the above, as well as the fact that none of the lawyers appointed by the appellant according to the respective power of attorney have filed no cause for their objective inability to attend the hearing, after obtaining the opinion of interested parties, the HJC and ILD representatives for the continuation of the hearing, the court, after being consulted, based on Article 38, paragraph 5 of Law no. 8577/2000 “On the organization and functioning of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Albania” (as amended) decided to continue the trial in her absence, inviting the parties to submit their final conclusions.
The representative of the High Judicial Council, in the submission of his final conclusions, assessed as unsubstantiated the allegations of the magistrate in the appeal and during the hearings, requesting the upholding of the HJC decision.
The representative of the High Inspector of Justice stated during the submission of her final conclusions that the procedure followed in the disciplinary proceedings was in accordance with the due legal process, and that the actions and omissions of the magistrate were considered very serious disciplinary violations that have led to the dismissal from office, requesting finally the rebuttal of the appeal and the upholding of the HJC decision.
The court, after hearing the final conclusions of the procedural subjects in this proceedings, decided to withdraw in chambers to continue with the decision-making deliberation on the case and informed the parties at trial that they will be notified by the court secretariat for the date the decision shall be announced.