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

The activities are implemented in the framework of the European Union/Council of Europe joint programme Horizontal Facility of the Western Balkans and Turkey II co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe.

An earlier phase of this programme (July 2016 - May 2019) was supported by the European Union.

May 2019 - December 2022

Objectives of the Action

The overall objective of the SEJ III Action is to continue to assist the judiciary, and in particular new institutions, in Albania with key areas of its on-going reform and improve its efficiency and quality in accordance with European standards.

The first specific objective is to use opportunities of the reform and of new institutions to improve judicial statistics in accordance with CEPEJ standards and tools with, in particular, a sustainable and consistent process to collect and analyse reliable statistics at national and court levels including with a new case management system.

The second specific objective is to address key areas of the reform to improve the quality of its services in accordance with CEPEJ standards and tools with for example:

The modernization of the judiciary with an IT Strategy;
Improvements to court security and safety;
The implementation of the CEPEJ methodology for the judicial map review in Albania;
Additional support to implement the new scheme for the evaluation of judges;
Additional satisfaction surveys;
Court coaching projects;
Improvements to the relationship with the media.

The third specific objective is to assist the School of Magistrates (SOM) respond to the new legal framework resulting from the justice reform process in accordance with CEPEJ standards and tools.

Main beneficiaries and partners

Ministry of Justice, High Judicial Council, High Prosecutorial Council, Courts, School of Magistrates, Bar Associations.

Link to the website of the project

Link to the page: Towards a better evaluation of the results of judicial reforms in the Western Balkans – “Dashboard Western Balkans“

Translations of CEPEJ documents:

Contacts

Council of Europe - Strasbourg

Roland Gjoni
Project coordinator
+33 (0)3 88 90 21 51 91

Council of Europe office in Tirana (Albania)

Laurela Muca
Project officer

Sara Radovicka
Project assistant

News

Back SEJ III: Training session for newly appointed magistrates on satisfaction surveys

A third training session was organised on CEPEJ tools on 28 February 2020 in Tirana, following the Training Needs Assessment carried out under SEJII.

The training seminar focused on satisfaction surveys for court users and was attended by the newly appointed magistrates. Its objective was to introduce the new concepts of quality of justice provided by the legislation within the framework of judicial reform. CEPEJ experts presented aims and use of satisfaction surveys, with example of surveys conducted in Albania under SEJ and SEJII. They also insisted on the CEPEJ methodology for carrying such surveys.

Further meetings were organized with representatives of the High Judicial Council on the role of satisfaction surveys as a tool to measure quality of judicial services and improve court management and the importance of regular use of satisfaction surveys by courts and HJC. High Judicial Council has expressed high interest for further support in carrying satisfaction surveys

The activity was organised in the framework of the SEJ III Action “Strengthening the Efficiency and Quality of the justice system in Albania”, which is part of the programme "Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey 2019-2022", co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe.