Strengthening the Quality and Efficiency of Justice in Albania (SEJ IV)

January 2023 – December 2026

Strengthening the Quality and Efficiency of Justice in Albania (SEJ IV)

The project is co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe, and is implemented by the Council of Europe.

Context of the project

The project “Strengthening the quality and efficiency of justice in Albania” (SEJ IV) will continue supporting the justice governing institutions and courts in the implementation of the reforms aimed at increasing the efficiency and quality of justice system based on the CEPEJ tools and methodologies as adapted in the Albanian context.

Project’s objectives

The project will contribute to increasing transparency and efficiency of judiciary institutions through improved court management and performance, improved quality of services for users in accordance with CEPEJ standards and tools, and supported by a wider use of IT and online tools. The use of alternative dispute resolution will be expanded, based on CEPEJ Mediation Development Toolkit. In coordination with the Dashboard WB action, the collection, processing and analysis of data on the functioning of the judicial system and judicial statistics according to the CEPEJ methodology will be improved.

Main activities

Capacity building activities on the use of cyberjustice tools (including for the development of the new ICMIS, for notification of the court users and for web-based court users’ satisfaction surveys), quality of justice tools (concerning for example improving the relations of the justice system with public and media) and efficient human resource management.
Common and individual court coaching projects to improve court performance and reduce backlog.
Recommendations and support on improving inspection guidelines and practices.
Training activities and development of specific modules on the efficiency and quality of justice for magistrates.
Recommendations and support on introducing ADR tools.
Workshops to improve the collection, processing and analysis of data on the functioning of the judicial system and judicial statistics according to the CEPEJ methodology (in coordination with Dashboard Western Balkans Action).

Project beneficiaries and stakeholders

Ministry of Justice, Bar Association of Albania, School of Magistrates High Judicial Council, High Prosecutorial Council, High Inspection of Justice, Chamber of Mediation, courts, and court users.

Contacts

Council of Europe - Strasbourg

Anastasiia Nohovitsyna
Project coordinator

Council of Europe office in Tirana (Albania)

Laurela Muca
Project manager

Eglantina Reka
Project Assistant

Translations of CEPEJ documents:

News

Back CEPEJ needs assessment visits to the prosecution services in Albania

Iuliia TKACHENKO

Modified 10 Months ago.

CEPEJ needs assessment visits to the prosecution services in Albania

CEPEJ experts conducted on 21-22 November 2023 a first needs assessment visit to identify potential areas of support to the prosecution system in Albania, specifically following the implementation of the new legislative framework, in particular, new responsibilities and obligations of the institutions, such as performance evaluation and use of data, and the creation of a new position of the prosecutor responsible for press relations, and re-organization linked to the new judicial map.

The experts met with the representatives of the General Prosecution Office, Legal Advisor of the General Prosecutor and Judicial Officer of the Institutional Coordination Department, Head of the Commission for the Performance Evaluation of Prosecutors in the High Prosecutorial Council as well as with Chief Prosecutors of Tirana and Elbasan. Aspects related to statistical data collection and use of these statistics for performance evaluation of prosecutors and prosecution services, and also communication between prosecution services and with the public and media were discussed.

Following the findings of the initial assessment visit, a set of recommendations will be developed and made available to the national authorities, and relevant CEPEJ tools will be suggested to support the Albanian prosecution services.

The activity was organized by the action Strengthening the Quality and Efficiency of Justice in Albania (SEJ IV) in the framework of the European Union/Council of Europe joint programme Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye (Horizontal Facility III), co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe.