Honorable Ambassador Kim, Honorable Mr. Hupin,
Honorable Mr. Ibrahimi,
Honorable Ms. Llagami,
Honorable Mr. Çela,
Honorable Mr. Rakipi,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Mr. Ibrahimi, thank you for organizing this event.
108 years ago, the signatories of Independence and the fathers of the creation of the Albanian state drafted the legal basis for the organization of the judicial system in Albania. As a sign of respect for their historic act and the legal norms created by this act, May 10th is remembered, recognized and celebrated. This does not mean that today we can forget the problems the system has and the necessity to reform it, however, I think that we discuss these problems and work hard all year round. Today is a day to celebrate and reflect.
I take this opportunity to congratulate judges, prosecutors and other judicial staff on Justice Day, and to encourage them all to be more motivated and more committed to their noble work.
Judges and prosecutors have a rewarding, inspiring and hard job. Such as it is!
Rewarding because through their profession, they help people solve their problems.
It is rewarding because they are part of the administration of justice, of this sacred value, which is crucial to a functioning democratic society.
It is also inspiring, as our society today needs more judges and prosecutors to transmit and inspire public confidence and optimism about the justice system.
It is definitely hard too! In a society where politics finds it difficult to recognize its limits, it is the people of justice who must preserve the independence of the institutions of democracy. They are the ones who must uphold the principles of separation of powers and the independence of institutions. Often, these principles are delicate and difficult to be found in a written form in the Constitution or other laws. This is the reason why the work of judges and prosecutors is rewarding and difficult. Finding the spirit of the law, the constitutionality of legal acts and the way institutions behave, as learnt in the new and old texts of Aristotle, John Lock or Baron Monteskie, as well as in the jurisprudence of important Courts in the world, like that of the Human Rights in Strasbourg, or the American Supreme Court, is definitely an intellectual and professional challenge, intriguing but also difficult. However, I think that if the Constitution and not the politics will guide us, if we will resist the efforts of politics or other interests, which will seek to impose the decision-making and impartiality of judges and prosecutors, if the interests of justice, sacred to every jurist, are pure, a great service will be done to democracy, a great service will be done to the country.
On the other hand, I think it is necessary that the importance of this independence is first acknowledged by the judges themselves. The famous American judge Learned Hand, in 1944, spoke of the spirit of liberty and said: “If liberty dies in the hearts of the people, no constitution, no law, no court can even do much to help it.” I would like to tell judges that if they themselves are not aware of the great force that the independence of justice gives to the development of the state and society, neither constitution nor the laws can do anything. If the magistrates themselves are not convinced of the importance of their independence to the consolidation of a just society, neither the constitution nor the laws can do anything.
Once again, Happy the inspiring Day of Justice!
Thank you!