Honorable Ambassador Kim,
Honorable Mrs. Llagami,
Honorable Mr. Ibrahimi,
Honorable Mrs. Skëndaj,
Honorable participants,
Thank you for the invitation and for organizing this activity.
This meeting, as well as the discussion regarding the activity of the justice system new bodies, especially in the first phase of the High Judicial Council and the High Prosecutorial Council, in itself constitutes a clear indication that the Justice Reform has embarked on its journey and the results of this monitoring and report, clearly show that this journey has no turning back now.
This reform is one of the largest undertakings for democracy and the rule of law in Albania. It is one of the deepest constitutional, legal and institutional reforms, which has affected the justice system not only in our country, but it is undoubtedly among the deepest reforms compared to other justice systems.
Implementing the reform, of the new constitutional organization of the justice system, of the new powers, and the new philosophy of exercising these powers, is not easy. This is not only because the establishment and operation of the new institutions was and still remains a challenge, for many reasons, some of them do not even depend on the new institutions, but also because justice reform is a process of transformation, which takes its time to realize the purpose for which it was conceived and designed. However, I think that the new justice bodies have started to function, they have started to exercise their powers and to their greatest extent they have started to give concrete results.
Of course, this is not the place to emphasize achievements, because it is neither the time nor the place, nor the stage in which the process of implementing justice reform is. We are still far from what is expected from us, and from what we expect from ourselves. However, I think this is the place to say that the process of reforming the justice system and the functioning of the new bodies, their efficiency and success and the overall implementation of law in Albania, requires intensive and continuous support and cooperation among these bodies and also among academics, experts, civil society organizations, the media and our international partners such as the EU and the US, who have supported this reform not only financially, but also in the creation and implementation of a new way of thinking or new mentality, to change the culture of corruption and impunity in Albania.
In this sense, I highly appreciate activities like this one today, as the role of civil society remains irreplaceable, in all this process in particular, but also in the functioning of the rule of law in general. Civil society organizations represent an alternative way to protect the citizens’ interests, different perspectives, positive pressure on decision-makers and leaders of new justice bodies by overseeing their activities and rightly demanding accountability from these bodies. At the same time, I think that this oversight process may not focus only on identifying problems and making recommendations.
The critical approach and problem identification are only one aspect. In this case, in the framework of effective oversight, there is a need for continuous cooperation between the new bodies of the justice system and the civil society organization. Cooperation is a necessary process, which requires mutual will: the institutions should be open to this cooperation and civil society organizations ought to offer this cooperation.
I am confident that only through the full functioning of the new bodies of the justice system, the full engagement of civil society organizations, local and international experts, will it be possible to have an effective practical implementation of the Justice Reform, based on professionalism and on the principles of accountability and independence, access for all, and above all the return of public trust in justice, which served as the impetus for the conception of this Reform
Personally, I am convinced that the findings of this monitoring report are a very good starting point for a full analysis of the current state of the organization and functioning of the justice system new bodies, in order to identify the problems that have resulted from the exercise of powers during the initial activity, as well as the needs for improvement in the future.
Thanking Mrs. Skëndaj and the Albanian Helsinki Committee, regarding the monitoring of the establishment and functioning process of the new bodies of the justice system, I take this opportunity to also congratulate my colleagues, Mrs. Llagami and Mr. Ibrahimi as well as the members of the Councils, who are fully engaged in performing their duties during this period, on the work done and the results achieved.
Thank you
Click on the video below to watch the full speech of High Inspector of Justice.