Commission de Venise du Conseil de l'Europe

Conseillère juridique du Premier ministre albanais  ·  Expert juridique  ·  Ancienne ministre de la Justice  ·  Universitaire

Dr. Etilda Gjonaj (née Saliu), born on 6 May 1981, is a distinguished legal expert, academic and former senior public official with over two decades of experience in law, justice reform, anti-corruption policy, human rights and European integration. She holds a law degree from the Faculty of Law, University of Tirana (1999–2003) and a Ph.D. in Criminal Sciences. Since November 2025, she serves as Legal Adviser to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Albania.

Dr. Gjonaj served as Minister of Justice of the Republic of Albania from September 2017 to September 2021, where she led the implementation of the landmark 2016 Justice Reform, the most comprehensive overhaul of Albania's judicial system. During this period she also served as National Coordinator for Anti-Corruption and was a key architect of Albania's engagement with the European Commission on Chapters 23 and 24 of the EU acquis.

She was elected Member of Parliament in the 10th Pluralist Legislature (2021–2025), serving as Vice-Chair of the Committee on European Affairs and member of the Committee on Foreign Policy. She led Pillar II on Anti-Corruption within the Ad-hoc Parliamentary Committee on Advancing Reforms in Good Governance, Rule of Law and Anti-Corruption for Albania's 2030 EU integration agenda. She served as Secretary of the Ad-hoc Committee on Combating Disinformation and Foreign Interference, and held positions in the Bureau of the Assembly, the Council of Legislation, and the National Council for European Integration. She served as Vice-Chair of the Alliance of Women Members of Parliament from 2022.

At the international level, Dr. Gjonaj represented Albania at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), where she was elected General Rapporteur on Violence against Women in September 2023 and First Vice-Chair of the Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination in January 2024. She served four consecutive years as a member of COSAC and other EU parliamentary mechanisms relevant to Western Balkans integration.

Prior to her ministerial role, Dr. Gjonaj served as Deputy Minister of Justice (2017), as High-Level Expert to the Technical Secretariat of the Ad-hoc Parliamentary Committee on Justice Reform (2015–2017), and as Commissioner at the National Ombudsperson's Institution (2014–2017). Before entering public office, she worked for over eleven years at the Albanian Helsinki Committee as a lawyer and human rights activist, leading programmes on rule of law, criminal justice, electoral monitoring and strategic litigation.

Dr. Gjonaj is a lecturer at the European University of Tirana and Mesdhetari Law Faculty, where she teaches the constitutional dimensions of EU law. She has previously lectured at the Faculty of Law, University of Tirana, in the Department of Criminal Law. She is the author of multiple scientific publications, legal analyses and research studies on criminal justice, rule of law, anti-corruption, penitentiary systems and human rights, published in national and international journals and conference proceedings.