Tirana Mayor Erion Veliaj says he and the Municipality of Tirana have appealed a ruling by the Administrative Court of First Instance in Tirana concerning a lawsuit challenging the validity of Ols Dado’s appointment as a prosecutor.

In a Facebook post, Veliaj argued that the first-instance court did not examine the case on its merits and called for his claims regarding the legality of Dado’s appointment to be reviewed by the Administrative Court of Appeal.

Veliaj also raised questions about the eligibility criteria he says were not met when Dado was appointed in 2008, arguing that the appointment act should be subject to judicial review.

The mayor framed the appeal as a matter of equality before the law and judicial oversight of the exercise of prosecutorial power, calling for the legality of the appointment to be assessed by the appellate court.

The appeal will now move the dispute to the Administrative Court of Appeal, where Veliaj is seeking a substantive review of the claims raised in the case.