Albania – annual report 2024

Strategic Framework

Legal Policy Starting Point

Nine years after Albania was granted EU candidate status by the Council of the European Union, the country’s EU accession process was decoupled from North Macedonia’s process in September 2024. At the accession conference with Albania on 15 October 2024, the first negotiation packages were officially opened, including Chapter 23 (Judiciary and Fundamental Rights) and Chapter 24 (Justice, Freedom and Security). The EU defined interim criteria for these chapters that must be met before further steps can be taken in the negotiation process.

The EU’s common position recognised Albania’s progress, particularly with regard to judicial reform and the vetting process. The procedure, through which judges and Public Prosecutors are assessed for their professional suitability, financial circumstances and integrity, had initially led to large vacancies in the Albanian judiciary and a backlog of court proceedings. In this context, the EU suggested stepping up measures to combat corruption and strengthening the School of Magistrates, which is responsible for training judges and staff at the Public Prosecutors Office. The European Union also sees a need for reform in the implementation of fundamental and human rights, such as freedom of expression, gender equality and anti-discrimination.

Overall Concept

IRZ projects in Albania are financed by institutional grants from the BMJV and project funds from the Federal Foreign Office and the European Union. The various types of funding are used by IRZ in a targeted and complementary manner in the project conception of accession-relevant topics in order to make the best possible use of synergies and absorption capacities of the key institutions of the judiciary.

The enormous training needs of the judges newly appointed in the course of the vetting process once again placed the area of further training at the centre of the measures implemented in 2024. IRZ has a long-standing tradition of cooperation with the School of Magistrates in this area. In terms of content, the seminars focused on promoting the effectiveness of the judiciary by addressing cross-cutting topics, such as drafting judgements and legal didactics.

Focus of Activity in 2024

Administration of Justice

  • Training courses for employees of the documentation centre of the ­Supreme Court on how to use and maintain the documentation ­s­oftware provided in Tirana in 2022

Basic and further training

  • Training of the judiciary on drafting judgements in Tirana
  • Training of the Trainers (ToT) with the judiciary on legal didactics in Tirana
  • Training for the judiciary on the topic of “Evidence in criminal law” in Tirana
  • Project funded by the European Union

EU Service Contract JUSTAL

The project “Support to the Implementation of the Crosscutting Justice Strategy” (JUSTAL project in short) 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, in lead capacity. It began its work under the leadership of IRZ shortly before the opening of the accession talks in Tirana in the Albanian Ministry of Justice in July 2022.

The JUSTAL project will run for two and a half years, has a project budget of around 2.1 million euros and is being 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 provide the Albanian Ministry of Justice with competent and close support during the important phase of EU accession preparations. They are supported by a team of national and international short-term experts who are deployed as required during the ongoing project.

The project objectives are:

Strengthening the coordination and management capacities of the Ministry of Justice for the effective implementation of the so-called “Crosscutting Justice Strategy” including the associated action plan.

Supporting the Judicial institutions involved in the implementation of the crosscutting justice strategy in the coordination mechanisms, in particular with regard to the compilation of relevant data and the fulfilment of reporting obligations provided for in the crosscutting justice strategy.

Cooperation with the Codification Department of the Ministry of Justice to qualify staff and support the harmonisation of national legislation with the EU acquis in view of Albania’s accession to the EU.

Strengthening the communication capacities of judicial institutions with a view to implementing the crosscutting justice strategy and its results.

The Albanian Ministry of Justice has also asked the JUSTAL project for support in the comprehensive revision or new version of the Albanian Civil Code.

With regard to the screening procedure required as part of the EU accession measures, the project team will also provide significant consulting services in coordination with the EU Delegation beyond the project contract. These will essentially focus on the preparation of the complex tables of concordance, which compare Albanian national law with EU law and enable Brussels to monitor legal harmonisation with EU law on an ongoing basis.

The Albanian Ministry of Justice is the main beneficiary institution of the JUSTAL project. It has the lead coordinator role in implementing the contents of the crosscutting justice strategy and in coordinating the independent judicial institutions involved in the complex multi-stage implementation process. Due to successful implementation and the additional requirements identified, the project was extended with an additional 0.5 million euros up to and including January 2025.

Outlook

After the JUSTAL project comes to an end in the first half of 2025, IRZ will continue to actively support legal and judicial reforms and the consolidation of the Rule of Law in Albania on a bilateral basis. For 2025, IRZ is also planning a thematic priority in the area of access to the judiciary for the population in general and vulnerable groups in particular and will also ­focus on making greater use of the instrument of constitutional complaints.