Albanian Constitutional Court suspends judicial vetting law key to EU hopes

The constitutional court in Albania ruled Tuesday to quash the vetting law which foresees control and reevaluation of the personal and professional backgrounds of judges and prosecutors. The vetting law was approved in Albanian parliament on Aug. 30. However, the Democratic Party (DP), the main opposition party in Albania, strongly opposed the law as anti-constitutional. The DP sent the vetting law, part of the judicial reform package, to the constitutional court asking it to nullify the law and, after holding a hearing on this request, the court decided to accept DP's request and throw out the law. Constitutional court decided to request the Venice Commission evaluate the legitimacy of this law, sources from the court said. The Venice Commission will also decide if the law is in compliance with the European Convention for Human Rights and the constitution of Albania, the same sources said. Original Source: