27 January 2025
The Head of the Special Prosecution Against Corruption and Organized Crime (SPAK), Mr. Altin Dumani, in exercising the powers of the Public Commissioner, was present today at the Appeal Chamber, to proceed with the judicial review of the appeal against decision no. 479/2021, issued by the Independent Qualification Commission (IQC), concerning the assessee, Mr. Arben Dosti, currently serving as a judge at the First Instance Court of General Jurisdiction of Tirana.
While verifying the parties’ attendance, the presiding judge announced that the assessee had submitted a request to reopen the judicial review and invited them to present it during the hearing.
The assessee explained that they sought the reopening of the judicial review to introduce new documents relevant to examining the appeal grounds concerning the assets and proficiency assessment criteria.
The Head of the Special Prosecution Office argued to overturn the assessee’s aforementioned request, reasoning that the conditions required to reopen the investigation had not been met.
After deliberation, the adjudicating panel revoked the decision to close the case’s judicial investigation and reopened it, administering the documents submitted by the assessee during the hearing.
Following the closure of the judicial investigation, the parties were invited to present their final arguments.
The Head of the Special Prosecution Office, adhering to all appeal grounds and submissions during the judicial review, deemed that the assessee failed to prove the contrary to the burden of proof concerning all three re-evaluation criteria. In conclusion, during the final arguments, the Head of the Special Prosecution Office requested the Appeal Chamber, after a thorough investigation of the case, to amend Decision No. 479/2021, of the Independent Qualification Commission, and to dismiss from office the assessee, Mr. Arben Dosti.
The assessee opposed the findings and the final request of the Head of the Special Prosecution Office and, in conclusion to his objections, requested the Appeal Chamber his reconfirmation in office.
After reviewing the parties’ final arguments, the adjudicating panel, withdrew to the deliberation chamber to reach a final decision, which will be announced on February 13, 2025, at 3:00 PM.
The appeal and the elements of the case have been published on the official SPAK website, in the “Re-evaluation Process” section: https://spak.gov.al/
The Head of the Special Prosecution against Corruption and Organized Crime, in accordance with Article 179/b, paragraph 8 of the Constitution of the Republic of Albania, has been exercising the powers of the Public Commissioners as of 1 January 2025.