Today, on 30.11.2023, at 10:00, the Appeal Chamber held the public hearing of case (JR) 20/2023, dated 19.05.2023, pertaining to the appeal of the Public Commissioner against decision no. 634, dated 10.03.2023, of the Independent Qualification Commission, related to the assessee Naim Tota.

During the submissions of the appeal grounds related to the asset and proficiency assessment criteria, the Public Commissioner maintained that action may be taken against the decision of the Independent Qualification Commission for the confirmation in office of the assessee and as such, it should be amended.

The Public Commissioner requested the dismissal from office of the assessee Naim Tota.

During the objections of the appeal grounds, the assessee and his legal representative held that the request of the Public Commissioner for the dismissal from office of the assessee is disproportionate and the claims raised in the appeal are unsupported in law and evidence.

The assessee contested the appeal grounds for both vetting criteria and filed three new documents, which he requested the trial panel to collect them as evidence. The assessee requested the upholding of decision no. 634, dated 10.03.2023, of the Independent Qualification Commission.

With regard to the two public denunciations received after the submission of the appeal, the Public Commissioner and the assessee shared the same position, that the denunciations contain insufficient facts and circumstances for further investigations.

After being consulted, the trial panel decided to accept as evidence one document filed by the assessee in the context of the opening of the judicial investigation of the case, and it was acquainted with two court decisions in the context of the evaluation of the public denunciations. With regard to the two denunciations, the panel decided to not submit them to further investigations, as they fail to meet the criteria of Article 53 of Law no. 84/2016 “On the transitional re-evaluation of judges and prosecutors in the Republic of Albania”.

Once the parties stated that they had no procedural requests, the panel decided to close the judicial investigation of the case and invited the parties to submit their final conclusions at the next hearing, on December 7, 2023, at 12:00.

The public hearing will take place in the premises of the Appeal Chamber, at Boulevard “Dëshmorët e Kombit”, no. 3, Tirana.