Expert exchange with the Albanian Supreme Court on “International legal assistance in criminal matters”

Participants of the expert exchange in Tirana on “International legal assistance in criminal matters” held on 24 October 2022.
Participants of the expert exchange in Tirana on “International legal assistance in criminal matters” held on 24 October 2022.
Albania

As part of the close and long-standing cooperation between IRZ and the Supreme Court of Albania, IRZ is organizing an expert exchange in Tirana on October 24, 2022 on the subject of “international legal assistance in criminal matters”. Approx. 30 participants attended the event, including the judges and academic staff of the Albanian Supreme Court.

During the expert lectures, case studies and interactive discussion rounds, Dr Stefan Trunk, Senior Public Prosecutor from Duisburg and Mr. Michael Bolz, Senior Public Prosecutor from Frankfurt am Main, a comprehensive insight into the legal basis and practice in the field of international legal assistance in criminal matters.

The experts presented the basic rules of legal assistance outside and inside the European Union and compared extradition outside the European Union and the European arrest warrant. The participants discussed important issues around execution of sentences, imprisonment, fines, asset confiscation and other sanctions outside and inside the European Union.

The event is part of a series of expert talks and study trips in cooperation with the Supreme Court of Albania, which the IRZ implemented in 2021 and 2022 as part of a project funded by the Federal Foreign Office on the subject of “court organisation”.

Strengthening of effective and efficient administrative jurisdiction – reception by State Secretary for Justice Dr Daniela Brückner

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
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.

 

Delegation from the Albanian Supreme Court at expert talks in Leipzig and Berlin

The delegation from the Supreme Court of the Republic of Albania on a visit to the Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig.
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.