TIRANA, SEPTEMBER 18, 2015 - Today, representatives from Albania’s justice sector were invited to a presentation of the results of USAID’s five year project that worked with courts, civil society organizations, media and legal education institutions to improve the rule of law and justice sector in Albania. U.S. Ambassador, Donald Lu, delivered the keynote address at the event highlighting the positive, on-the-ground results of this USG investment, while encouraging the adoption of reform measures within the judiciary and stronger government efforts to counter corruption in the judicial system. Judicial reform is often identified as the single most important priority for Albania’s EU aspirations.

USAID’s Justice Sector Strengthening in Albania (JuST) project aimed to increase transparency, fairness, and efficiency of Albanian courts, support efforts of civil society organizations and media to hold institutions accountable on corruption issues, and strengthen the legal profession and legal education in Albania.  Specifically, the project introduced digital audio recording technology in every courtroom in every court throughout Albania enabling verbatim trial records, available to the public, as well as measures to make courts operate more efficiently.  USAID established the first-ever Continuing Legal Education Program for lawyers, which is now a legally-authorized national program, in line with European standards.  As a result of the project, Albania also now has an NGO dedicated to investigative journalism (Albanian Journalists for Justice), which shares articles on the independent website www.investigimi.al. 

SUMMARY OF PROJECT RESULTS: USAID’S JUSTICE SECTOR STRENGHTENING PROJECT

COURT TRANSPARENCY, FAIRNESS, AND EFFICIENCY

DIGITAL AUDIO RECORDING

• Installed digital audio recording (DAR) equipment in all 38 courts in Albania, (including the new administrative courts) totaling 160 courtrooms.
• Digital audio recordings are now the official record, the recognized standard for accurate trial records. The Civil Procedure Code was amended to reflect this new reality. A unifying decision by the High Court in April 2015 removed all doubts about the status of audio recording in criminal trials.
• The project installed a central record archive for audio recording files in Tirana and connected and configured all courts for nightly back-ups of mission-critical data.
• Following the successful deployment of the central record archive for audio recordings, all judicial inspectors were trained on how to access court recordings from their office computers.
• The number of court hearings audio recorded continues to rise, with 15 courts now exceeding the 90 percent threshold.

COURT MANAGEMENT

• The Court Calendar Management Application (PAKS+) was created and installed in the 35 Albanian courts using an integrated case management information system (ICMIS).
• In cooperation with theOrganization for Security and Co-operation in Europe   (OSCE), USAID’s JuST project supported two pilot courts to demonstrate the application of “active case management” to reduce court delay and improve court efficiency in Kruja and Korcë. As the positive results became known, two more courts (Tropoja and Pukë) adopted similar techniques with equally positive results.

COURTS AND CITIZENS

• USAID’S JuST project carried out several nationwide public-awareness campaigns on digital audio recording and the rights of citizens to obtain copies of these recordings.
• The project supported renovation of public information offices in three courts — Kavaja, Kurbin, and Pogradec — and worked with an international public service and information area expert to produce a set of standards to guide future projects, reinforcing an architectural and service standard for future courts.

MEDIATION AS ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION

• JuST implemented mediation programs in five courts — Durres, Korca, Gjirokaster, Permet, and Saranda — with 1,084 cases mediated nationwide and868 resolved through the mediation process.
• The team prepared initial and advanced training curricula on commercial and family mediation and implemented several awareness campaigns on alternative dispute resolution.
• The project supported establishment and organizational strengthening of the National Chamber of Mediators.

CIVIC ENGAGEMENT

UNION OF ALBANIAN JUDGES

• Support to the Union of Albanian Judges (UAJ) has brought the organization international recognition, contributed to its sustainability and membership growth, and facilitated its active engagement in key policy issues for the independence of the judiciary.

INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM

• JuST helped establish the Association of Journalists for Justice (AJJ), an organization dedicated to investigative reporting and tackling a series of issues in many Albanian government institutions. It supported the AJJ in partnering with the more-established investigative reporting centers in the region.
• The project helped establish an independent media venue, www.investigim.al, to publish investigative reports (written and video) uncovering corruption. To date, 63 corruption-related cases have been published.38 journalism students are now trained on investigative techniques and are playing an active role in producing investigative reports.

CIVIL SOCIETY

• The project awarded 19 grants to civil society organizations (CSOs) that worked on issues related to women’s issues, the environment, social services, DAR campaigns, public health, and exposing corruption through investigative journalism.

EDUCATION OF THE LEGAL PROFESSION

CONTINUING LEGAL EDUCATION FOR PROFESSIONALS

• USAID established the first Continuing Legal Education (CLE) Program in Albania and completed three years of CLE in six regional chambers: Vlorë, Durrës, Fier, Korcë, Shkodra, and Tirana. During the 3 years of the CLE pilot program 1115 lawyers and assistant lawyers were trained.
• Early success of the CLE Program informed the establishment of the National School of Advocates (NSA). JuST assisted the NSA with organizational strategies while still in its first steps. The NSA immediately took up the initial training and trained over 750 assistant-lawyers over the past two years. NSA is expected to take over the continuing training of lawyers as well.
• The project team worked with the National Chamber of Advocates to draft legal provisions for amendments to the Law on the Legal Profession, which included making the CLE program mandatory for all attorneys.
• USAID helped establish the bar journal, Avokatia, which achieved sustainability by the seventh issue and is continuing to publish high-quality quarterly journals without USAID financial support.

CLINICAL LEGAL EDUCATION AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR STUDENTS

• The team assisted the University of Tirana Law Faculty (UTLF) in establishing a legal clinic, which is officially part of the school’s curriculum and is functioning as a legal aid provider to assist people in need with their court cases. So far, 152 students of the clinic, along with 15 volunteers at a local legal aid provider (Center for Legal and Civic Initiatives [CLCI]), have taken part in trial preparation.
• Since its establishment, 258 students have enrolled in the Legal Clinic, and 52 individuals have sought assistance from clinic students.
• USAID organized the first Professional Internship Program for law school students at the State Advocate’s Office in collaboration with the Ministry of Social Welfare and Youth and the State Advocate’s Office. A total of 21 UTLF students engaged in the first six-month internship program, which included daily work in trial preparation and was supervised by state advocates.
• A searchable database of unifying Supreme Court decisions was completed in cooperation with the Magistrates School, and was launched on the 100th anniversary of Albanian Justice Day.