The High Inspector of Justice has approved the inspection plan for prosecution offices and courts for 2025 at the General Meeting of Inspectors.
For the second consecutive year, thematic and institutional inspections are a priority of the work of the High Inspector of Justice, as an instrument to measure the efficiency of justice in the country, but also as the conclusion of the special working meeting, held last October, with the Unit of Inspectors and the Unit of Assistant Inspectors, to address the findings of the document “Common Position of the European Union”, in the framework of the opening of Albania accession negotiations for the first group-chapter.
The delay of work processes by judges and prosecutors has been the most frequently identified cause of complaints addressed to the High Inspector of Justice during 2024, by citizens but also by institutions, which have forwarded proposals for thematic inspections.
At the General Meeting of Inspectors, it was noted that from the processing of data on complaints related to courts, the court with the highest number of complaints reviewed by the HIJ, with the subject of “delay”, was the Court of First Instance of General Jurisdiction of Tirana, followed by the Court of Appeal of General Jurisdiction, the Court of First Instance of General Jurisdiction of Saranda and the Administrative Court of Appeal.
Regarding the complaints reviewed during 2024, the courts for which were no complaints filed with HIJ related to the delays of the work processes are: the First Instance Court of General Jurisdiction Dibër, the First Instance Court of General Jurisdiction Gjirokastër, the Special Court of First Instance for Corruption and Organized Crime (GJKKO) and the Special Court of Appeal for Corruption and Organized Crime (GJPAKKO).
In regard to the prosecution offices, the office which had the largest number of complaints reviewed with the object of “delay” is the the prosecution office at the First Instance Court of General Jurisdiction Durrës, followed by the prosecution office at the First Instance Court of General Jurisdiction Tirana, the prosecution office at the Court of Appeal of General Jurisdiction and the prosecution office at the First Instance Court of General Jurisdiction Lezhë.
Related to the complaints reviewed during 2024, the prosecution offices for which there were no complaints of delaying the work processes are the prosecution office at the First Instance Court of General Jurisdiction Berat, the prosecution office at the First Instance Court of General Jurisdiction Gjirokastër, the prosecution office at the First Instance Court of General Jurisdiction Kukës and the Special Structure against Corruption and Organized Crime (SPAK).
Discussing the data and the findings of the Unit of Inspectors and that of the Unit of Assistant Inspectors, during the review of these complaints at different work stages during 2024, the General Meeting of Inspectors approved a total of 8 inspections to be carried out in 2025 where 7 of them are thematic inspections and 1 is institutional inspection.
The General Meeting of Inspectors approved 3 thematic inspections and 1 institutional inspection, sanctioned by the Office of the High Inspector of Justice, specifically:
Thematic inspection “Allocation of cases by draw, as well as checking of electronic system reports” will be carried out at the High Court, the General Court of Appeal, the First Instance Court of General Jurisdiction Shkodra, for the period 01.01.2024-31.12.2024”. The inspection at these courts will be carried out during the period 01.04.2025-31.12.2025.
Thematic inspection “On the practice and causes of replacement of prosecutors for the period 01.01.2024- 31.12.2024.” will be carried out at the prosecution office at the First Instance Court of General Jurisdiction Dibër, the prosecution office at the First Instance Court of General Jurisdiction Vlorë, the prosecution office at the First Instance Court of General Jurisdiction Durrës. This inspection will be carried out in the period 01.04.2025 – 31.12.2025.
A thematic inspection, part of the Justice Strategy 2025-2030 and the Rule of Law Roadmap within the framework of the EU integration process is “Documentation by judges on informing the parties about the possibility of resolving the case through mediation for the period 01.05.2024 – 31.07.2024“. This inspection will be carried out at the First Instance Court of General Jurisdiction in Tirana, the First Instance Court of General Jurisdiction in Elbasan and the First Instance Court of General Jurisdiction in Vlora during the period 10.02.2025 – 31.03.2025.
The institutional inspection “On the process of document workflow from the moment of registration in the secretariat until the completion of its processing” will be carried out at the prosecution office at the First Instance Court of General Jurisdiction in Dibër, for the period 01.04.2024 – 30.06.2024. The inspection will be carried out from 15.04.2025 to 15.09.2025.
At the General Meeting of Inspectors, were discussed proposals received from institutions such as the Ministry of Justice and the High Prosecutorial Council and were approved these specific thematic inspections:
Thematic inspection “On the processing of the reporting material by the prosecutor, within the framework of the elements defined in the Criminal Procedure Code for the period 01.01.2024-31.12.2024“, will be carried out at the prosecution office at the Court of First Instance of General Jurisdiction in Korça and the prosecution office at the Court of First Instance of General Jurisdiction in Saranda, from 01.04.2025 to 30.10.2025.
The duration of court proceedings will be analyzed with the thematic inspection “On the duration of court proceedings with opposing parties for the period 01.04.2024 – 30.06.2024”, at the Court of First Instance of General Jurisdiction Saranda and will be carried out from 15.04.2025 to 15.11.2025.
The thematic inspection “On the procedure for announcing and reasoning judicial decisions in the Court of First Instance of General Jurisdiction Gjirokastër for the period 01.04.2024 – 30.06.2024.” will be carried out in the period 01.04.2025 – 30.09.2025.
The General Meeting of Inspectors has approved the proposal from the High Prosecutorial Council, sanctioning the thematic inspection “On cases processed for the first time by request or decision of the prosecutor for dismissal due to the statute of limitations of criminal prosecution, for the period 01.01.2024 – 31.12.2024” at the prosecution Office at the First Instance Court of General Jurisdiction Berat and the prosecution office at the First Instance Court of General Jurisdiction Lezhë. This inspection will be carried out during the period 01.03.2025 -31.10.2025.
