First row (from left to right): Naureda Llagami, President of the Supreme Judicial Council of the Republic of Albania and Dr Daniela Brückner, State Secretary in the Ministry of Justice of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia Albania
A three-day study trip by the IRZ led a delegation from the Supreme Judicial Council of the Republic of Albania to benchmarking in Germany.
The three-day study trip led by the President of the Supreme Judicial Council of Albania, Naureda Llagami, gave the representatives of the Supreme Judicial Council and the administrative judges who accompanied them an insight into the practical work of German administrative court jurisdiction and the administration of justice.
The Albanian delegation discussed organisational, personnel and infrastructural issues with German colleagues in Aachen, Düsseldorf and Münster from 26-30 September 2022.
The delegation assembled at the Aachen Administrative Court to learn more about the structure and procedural features of administrative jurisdiction and the training of judges in Germany (degree and legal clerkship) and also took part in two meetings of the court.
The State Secretary, Dr Daniela Brückner received the participants in the Ministry of Justice of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia. The technical discussions that followed focused on the structure and tasks of the judiciary in Germany, the principles of personnel administration for judges in North Rhine-Westphalia and disciplinary proceedings against judges.
The delegation members took part in another oral hearing on the judicial review procedure at the Higher Administrative Court in Münster and held technical discussions about further training for judges as a means of quality assurance, the recruitment procedure for the judicial service and efficient work in the judiciary of second instance.
Lastly, expert talks at the Düsseldorf Administrative Court explored the topics of personnel management and assessment practice at an administrative court, effective process management and further training.
The Federal Foreign Office supported the study trip as part of a project funding on the subject of “court organisation”.
The IRZ is planning further events as part of this project in 2022.
The delegation from the Supreme Court of the Republic of Albania on a visit to the Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig. Albania
A delegation from the Supreme Court of the Republic of Albania attended expert talks in Leipzig and Berlin on 28 and 29 June 2022 at the invitation of the IRZ. At the start of the study visit, the six judges from the Supreme Court were welcomed to the Federal Administrative Court (BVerwG) in Leipzig by Prof. Dr. Ingo Kraft (Presiding Judge at BVerwG) and Mr Martin Steinkühler (Judge at BVerwG).
The subjects of the professional discussions were the role, tasks and responsibilities of the Federal Administrative Court, the administrative court judicial review and the distinction between public and private law. There was also a focus on the issues of approval purposes of appeals, reviews of administrative processes and the significance of oral hearings in German practice.
On the following day the professional exchange on administrative court jurisdiction was continued on the premises of the German Association of Judges in Berlin. Dr. Axel Schreier, judge at the Berlin-Brandenburg Higher Administrative court, gave a presentation on the structure and role of the administrative court jurisdiction in Germany and addressed the subject of the powers of rejection of administrative courts and the specific judicial review of statutes from the point of view of the referring court. During the delegation’s visit to the Constitutional Court of the State of Berlin, the discussions focused on the division of competencies between administrative jurisdiction and constitutional court jurisdiction.
The background to the study visit is the introduction of an independent administrative court jurisdiction in Albania through Act no. 49/2012 “On the Organisation and Functioning of the Administrative Courts and Administrative Disputes” in 2012. The focus of the two-day exchange of expertise and experience was therefore on questions emerging from the establishment of administrative court jurisdiction in Albanian judicial practice and issues which arise from the necessary delimitation of competences, including on administrative court jurisdiction. The study visit therefore provided the opportunity to present parallel questions which exist in German administrative law and to identify common solutions.
The study visit was financed through project support by the Foreign Office on the subject of “Judicial Organisation”. Further expert talks in cooperation with the Supreme Court are planned for 2022.
Between February and May 2022, the focus of IRZ's bilateral project work in Albania was the cooperation with the Albanian School of Magistrates, which is responsible for the education and training of the judiciary in the Republic of Albania.
Following a vetting procedure, the School of Magistrates then plays a central role in the re-staffing of judges and public prosecutors. The education and training capacities of the School of Magistrates have therefore been increased in recent years, and the demand for German and European expertise in legal training practice has also risen steadily.
In this context, IRZ will continue to support the School of Magistrates in 2022 within the framework of its curriculum with the training and further education of judges and public prosecutors on various topics:
The judiciary and the media
On 10 February 2022, a first hybrid seminar on "The judiciary and the media" was held at the School of Magistrates. For the IRZ, Ms Brigitte Koppenhöfer, retired presiding judge at the Düsseldorf Regional Court, spoke on the (tense) relationship between the judiciary and the media regarding the press and public relations activities of the courts and criminal prosecution agencies. The event focused on Albanian, German and European best practices, legal bases, prerequisites and (crisis) strategies for proactive and procedural press and public relations activities.
Division of competences between administrative and constitutional jurisdiction
On 15 March 2022, IRZ organised another hybrid seminar with the Albanian School of Magistrates on the division of competences between the administrative court jurisdiction and constitutional court jurisdiction in Albania. Professor Michaela Wittinger, Professor of Constitutional Law at the Federal University of Public Administration in Mannheim, participated for Germany on behalf of IRZ. The main focus of the event was on the respective powers, the necessary delimitation of competences and the interaction between administrative court jurisdiction and constitutional court jurisdiction against the backdrop of the comparatively young administrative court jurisdiction, which was introduced in Albania in 2012 as a separate branch of the courts.
Cybercrime
On 28 March and 6 May 2022, IRZ hosted two hybrid events on the topic of "Cybercrime" in cooperation with the School of Magistrates. The subject of the seminars was the adaptation of the Albanian legal system to the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime, with a particular focus on racist and xenophobic acts on the net (28 March 2022) and the issue of securing and using digital evidence in criminal proceedings (6 May 2022). IRZ was delighted that Mr Andreas May, Senior Public Prosecutor of the Central Office for Combating Cybercrime at the General Prosecutor’s Office in Frankfurt am Main accepted our invitation to present the German and European legal framework and the German practice from his expert viewpoint.
Around 80 representatives from the Albanian judiciary and Public Prosecutor´s Office took part in the four events, which were funded by the Federal Ministry of Justice. The seminars were held at the School of Magistrates, which encouraged a lively and trusting atmosphere for discussions and a vibrant exchange of expertise and experience between the Albanian participants and the German-Albanian contingent of speakers.
