Albania – annual report 2023

Details
Published: September 4, 2024

Strategic Framework

Legal Policy Starting Point

Eight years after Albania was officially granted candidate status by the Council of the European Union, the first accession negotiations began in mid-2022. Since then, the country has been undergoing a screening process in which the European Commission examines the extent to which national law deviates from the EU acquis and whether individual negotiation chapters can be opened. The European Union attaches greater importance to the rule of law in future accession negotiations, which is why the examination of Chapter 23 (Judiciary and Fundamental Rights) and Chapter 24 (Justice, Freedom and Security) is of particular importance. At the “12th meeting of the EU-Albania Stabilisation and Association Council”, the European Union acknowledged Albania‘s positive development, which was achieved through the continuous implementation of the far-reaching judicial reform, but at the same time emphasised the need for further reform steps.

A comprehensive court reform led, among other things, to six regional courts of appeal being dissolved and replaced by a supra-regional court of appeal in the capital. However, this court is not nearly fully staffed due to the large vacancies in the judiciary as a whole, which have arisen as a result of the extensive vetting procedure to review the professional capacity, integrity and financial circumstances of judges. The Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court are now fully staffed, and the high number of pending cases has been continuously reduced since then.

As part of the so-called Berlin Process, representatives of six Western Balkan states met with representatives of various EU member states and the European Union in Tirana at the end of the year to discuss the prospect of accession. The European Union, on the other hand, emphasised that EU enlargement by 2030 is conceivable if further reforms are implemented within the European Union.

Overall Concept

IRZ's projects in Albania are financed by institutional funds from the Federal Ministry of Justice as well as project funds from the Federal Foreign Office and the European Union. When conceptualizing projects, IRZ takes the different types of funding into account and ensures that they complement each other in a meaningful way in order to utilise the resulting synergies and financial capacities. In this way, IRZ covers many accession-relevant topics with key institutions in the justice system.

IRZ has been working closely with the Supreme Court in Albania since the beginning of the cooperation, for example currently in the implementation of a documentation software. At the same time, the cooperation with the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court of Albania has been consolidated as part of a jointly organised supra-regional conference on access to justice with the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court of Kosovo.

As part of a project funded by the Federal Foreign Office, IRZ set another focus on the cooperation with the Special Appeals Chamber of the Constitutional Court in the areas of “judicial ethics” and “disciplinary proceedings against judges”, which are important for Albania with regard to the integrity of the judiciary.

Furthermore, IRZ continued its cooperation with the Bar Association, addressing the “constitutional complaint”, which was introduced in Albania based on the German model, in another region of Albania. Traditionally partnering with the School of Magistrates, which plays a key role in view of the enormous training needs of judges and prosecutors, IRZ also engaged in “advanced training activities”.

Focuses of Activity in 2023

Constitutional Law, Human Rights and their Enforceability

  • Seminar on “Constitutional complaints” in cooperation with the Albanian Bar Association in Saranda

Public Law

  • International conference on the occasion of the 110th anniversary of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Albania on the topic “The jurisprudence of the Supreme Court: from national identity to universal values” in Tirana
  • Regional conference on “Access to Justice” in cooperation with the Constitutional Courts and Supreme Courts of Kosovo and Albania in Pristina
  • Study trip for judges and legal advisors of the Albanian Special Appeals Chamber to Karlsruhe, Stuttgart and Strasbourg on the topic of “Judicial ethics and disciplinary responsibility of judges”
  • Conference on “Judicial integrity, ethics and independence” in cooperation with the Albanian Special Appeals Chamber in Tirana

Administration of Justice

  • Seminar on “Preventing and combating money laundering in the legal profession” in cooperation with the German Federal Bar Association and the Albanian Bar Association in Tirana

Basic and Further Training

  • Online training on the use of documentation software in cooperation with the documentation department of the Albanian Supreme Court
  • Seminar on “Cybercrime – hate speech on the internet” in cooperation with the Albanian School of Magistrates in Tirana
  • Seminar on “Electronic evidence in civil proceedings” in cooperation with the Albanian School of Magistrates in Tirana

Project funded by the European Union EU Grant Project JUSTAL

The project “Support to the Implementation of the Crosscutting Justice Strategy” (JUSTAL) is a thematic continuation of the EU projects EURALIUS IV and EURALIUS V on comprehensive judicial reform, which have been implemented by IRZ since 2014. Under the leadership of IRZ, the project began its work in the Albanian Ministry of Justice shortly before the opening of the accession talks in Tirana in July 2022. IRZ‘s junior partner is DAI Global, a global consulting firm headquartered in the USA with offices in Vienna, Brussels and London. The JUSTAL project will run for two years, has a project budget of around 1.7 million euros and will be implemented in the form of a “service contract”. The project team consists of three experienced international experts who are very familiar with judicial reform in Albania and are therefore also in a position to support the Albanian Ministry of Justice in the important phase of preparing for EU accession. They will be accompanied by a team of national and international short-term experts who will be deployed as required during ongoing project operations.

The project objectives are

  • Strengthening the coordination and management capacities of the Ministry of Justice with regard to the effective implementation of the so-called “Crosscutting Justice Strategy” (hereinafter referred to as the “Justice Strategy”) and the associated action plan.
  • Support the judicial institutions involved in the implementation of the Justice Strategy in the coordination mechanisms related to the Justice Strategy, in particular with regard to the compilation of relevant data and the fulfilment of reporting obligations provided for in the Justice Strategy. Cooperation with the Codification Department of the Ministry of Justice in order to qualify staff and support the work on harmonising national legislation with the EU acquis with a view to Albania‘s accession to the EU.
  • Strengthening the communication capacities of the judicial institutions with a view to implementing the justice strategy and its results.

The Albanian Ministry of Justice has also asked the JUSTAL project for support in the comprehensive revision or revision of the Albanian Civil Code. With regard to the screening procedure required as part of the EU accession measures, the project team, in coordination with the EU Delegation, will also provide significant consulting services beyond the initial project contract. These will essentially focus on the preparation/support of the complex tables of concordance, which compare Albanian national law with EU law and enable Brussels to monitor the harmonisation of EU law on an ongoing basis.

The Ministry of Justice is the main beneficiary of the JUSTAL project. It has the leading coordinating role in the implementation of the contents of this justice strategy and in the coordination of the independent justice institutions involved in the complex multi-stage implementation process.

Outlook

In 2024, IRZ will continue to actively support legal and judicial reforms and the consolidation of rule of law structures in Albania, both bilaterally and through the JUSTAL project mentioned above. In the coming year, IRZ also plans to focus on access to justice in general and for vulnerable groups in particular as well as to promote the greater use of the instrument of constitutional complaint.