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From the dock to the lawyer's chair: the art of procrastination

2026-04-02 10:21:00, Aktualitet CNA

There is a kind of irony that even satire cannot invent, in the case when a defendant becomes the lawyer for another defendant, and the two seem to have agreed on the same national sport: the endless postponement of court hearings.

On one side we have Plarent Ndreca, who regularly appears before the Special Court for Corruption and Organized Crime as a defendant for violating equality in tenders.

On the other hand, the same person, dressed as a lawyer, defends Erion Veliaj, accused of corruption, abuse of office and concealment of assets.

A situation that feels a bit like: “Let me show you how justice is avoided… while I’m experiencing it live.”

Because, surprisingly (or not so surprisingly), the strategy is the same on both fronts: Procedural demands, claims of incomplete acts, the need for additional time, and, above all, the art of endlessly prolonging the trial that they themselves have so insistently sought.

In one courtroom, Ndreca is "the defendant who is asking for time," while in another, he is "the lawyer who is asking for time."

A multi-tasking legal performance that deserves to be included in the curricula of the Magistrates' School: "How to be both a client and a delay strategist."

The irony becomes even more profound when you remember the nature of the accusations. One for violating equality in tenders and the other for corruption.

And both defend themselves with a common philosophy: "Time is justice, the more time, the less justice."

In the end, the audience is left with a simple question: Is this legal defense… or an advanced lecture course on surviving justice?

Because when a defendant in one criminal offense becomes another's lawyer for another criminal offense, and both use the same playbook to delay the process, we no longer have just one court case.

In fact, we have a creative collaboration, where one is in the dock and the other is standing, but with the same goal: to never let the game end. /CNA