Greetings everyone,
When assessing the contribution of the European Union-funded project “Technical Assistance to Support the Implementation of the Crosscutting Justice Strategy” (JUSTAL), it is important to focus not only on the activities carried out and the products prepared, but also on the role these activities play in strengthening the analytical capacities of the Office of the High Inspector of Justice, consolidating the standards of disciplinary accountability of magistrates, as well as further strengthening inter-institutional cooperation.
HIJ is a constitutional institution that contributes to ensuring the accountability, responsibility and integrity of the justice system, exercising its powers in compliance with the guarantees deriving from the rule of law and ensuring the appropriate balance between the independence and accountability of magistrates.
Independence and accountability constitute two essential elements of a democratic and functional justice system. In this regard, expectations of the HIJ should not be limited solely to the number of complaints examined, the number of investigations conducted or disciplinary proceedings initiated. The expectation is that the institution, through its constitutional mechanisms, contributes to identifying issues that undermine the functioning of the justice system, identifying their causes, and recommending legislative, regulatory and administrative measures that improve the quality of the justice system.
An important dimension of this mission is thematic and institutional inspections. They enable the HIJ to look beyond individual cases and individual responsibility, to identify recurring issues and analyze the factors affecting the effectiveness of the justice system itself. The objective is not the disciplinary measure in itself, but a justice system that functions better, responds to citizens within a reasonable time and guarantees impartial and high-quality decision-making.
It is precisely in this regard that the support provided by JUSTAL is appreciated. The analysis of the implementation of recommendations resulting from thematic inspections, the development of instruments for the collection and processing of data, as well as the inclusion of these instruments in standard working procedures, constitute important steps towards a more structured and results-oriented inspection activity.
The analysis of the effectiveness of the recommendations issued following completed institutional and thematic inspections is a process that requires continuous improvement and development in order to make this essential competence of the HIJ as functional and effective as possible. It must be kept in mind that the recommendations issued cannot have an immediate impact in eliminating the identified issues, since this requires changes to institutional practices, the standardization of professional conduct and institutional coordination among all actors within the system. In this context, HIJ has decided to establish sustainable mechanisms for monitoring these recommendations through the development of follow-up inspections, with the aim of monitoring the implementation of the recommendations issued. At the same time, the High Inspector of Justice is working on drafting a specific methodology regarding the monitoring and follow-up of the process of implementing the recommendations issued within the framework of thematic/institutional inspections. In this context, in addition to our commitment, continued support from international partners is also considered necessary, through their expertise on the best practices, models or standards in this field, with the aim of establishing a monitoring system for measuring the real impact of the recommendations and identifying problems that recur within the justice system.
For the HIJ, this is an important standard for further institutional development: moving from identifying issues towards measuring the results and impact of inspection activities. A recommendation should not be assessed only on the basis of the fact that it has been drafted or forwarded, but also on the basis of the change it produces in institutional practice. In this way, inspection becomes an instrument for improving the system and not merely a control mechanism.
Another essential expectation relates to inter-institutional cooperation. HIJ exercises a specific function within the architecture of justice governance, but the results of this function are intertwined with the responsibilities of the High Judicial Council, High Prosecutorial Council and other institutions. Only through cooperation and shared commitment can we guarantee a justice system that can function on the basis of solid foundations of professionalism, integrity and credibility. In this context, I consider that the support of international partners is important and contributes to strengthening the sustainable capacities of institutions, developing common methodologies and improving accountability mechanisms.
With the support of the project, in April 2026, the agreement on inter-institutional cooperation in reporting justice statistics was signed. This agreement serves not only to measure the performance and efficiency of the activities of courts and prosecution offices, but is also essential in terms of transparency, accountability, as well as identifying the needs for continuous improvement of the activities of the justice system. Likewise, at the Joint Meeting of the High Judicial Council and the High Prosecutorial Council dedicated to the process of ethical and professional evaluation of magistrates, HIJ emphasized the establishment of an ethical-professional evaluation system that monitors and assesses the performance of magistrates not only on the basis of work results, but also in accordance with moral, ethical and professional standards, while simultaneously emphasizing the need for this process to proceed at a rapid pace, as it constitutes the main instrument through which the Councils will fill vacancies in the system.
During 2026, cooperation with JUSTAL included discussions on the disciplinary responsibility of magistrates, disciplinary investigations in sensitive cases, the application of the legal tools available during investigative procedures, and the distinction between ethical violations and disciplinary violations.
These activities created space for the exchange of experiences and for addressing issues directly related to the quality, consistency and effectiveness of disciplinary practice. In this regard, it is important that technical support contributes to establishing uniform standards in the way the law is interpreted by the governing bodies of the justice system, in order to serve the guarantee of legal certainty, while preserving the independence of magistrates and ensuring their accountability in accordance with the law.
Within the framework of the comments on the legal amendments adopted by the Parliament of Albania in January of this year, JUSTAL recommended that the reduction of the seniority requirement for inspectors of the HIJ Office be used only as a last resort. Understanding the concerns raised, HIJ has assessed that the legislator’s purpose in establishing the professional experience criteria for magistrates seeking to be seconded to the HIJ should strike a balance between the need to guarantee a high standard in the disciplinary investigation and inspection process (which is not necessarily linked to the number of years a magistrate has spent in the system) and ensuring the full-capacity functioning of the system of accountability and responsibility of magistrates. For this reason, the HIJ has addressed several proposals for legal amendments to the Parliament of Albania, which were partially reflected in the legal amendments adopted in January 2026.
The proposals submitted by the HIJ aimed to increase magistrates’ interest in applying for the secondment procedure, by improving the attractiveness of this position, as one of the findings consistently identified in the European Commission’s progress reports, with the aim of guaranteeing the full-capacity functionality of this institution and continuing to consolidate its role as an independent oversight and accountability institution within the justice system.
In conclusion, we consider it important to emphasize the importance of the continued support of international partners through assistance projects within the framework of the continuous strengthening and consolidation of the Office of the High Inspector of Justice as an institution which, through inspections and accountability mechanisms, helps ensure sustainable improvement and an increase in quality within the justice system. The success of the justice reform is not measured only by the establishment and functioning of institutions, but is measured primarily by their ability to genuinely improve the way justice functions and how it is perceived by citizens.
