During a working visit to Brussels, the High Inspector of Justice Artur Metani participated in the event “Good Governance and Resilience of Justice Sector Reform in the Western Balkans”, which was also attended by the Minister of Justice of Northern Macedonia, Bojan Maričić. The event was implemented in the framework of the challenges that the two countries face while waiting to open accession negotiations for membership in the European Union. The event was organized by the Cooperation and Development Institute (CDI) and the Center for European Policy Studies (CEPS) located in Brussels, with the support of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the online participation of civil society organizations.
Presenting the experience of Albania during his speech “Insights and Lessons Learned from the Office of High Inspector of Justice“, Mr. Metani said, among other things, that justice reform in Albania is one of the deepest legal and institutional reforms compared to other Western Balkan countries. Justice reform has entered a very important phase of its implementation. The institutions of the justice system have been set up and they are fully committed to delivering concrete results in their work. Albania can be considered the leader of this process and its experience can help during the process of planning, implementing and monitoring institutional reforms in other countries of the Western Balkans.
During the presentation of the monitoring report of the new justice institutions in Albania, the co-authors, the Director of Research at CDI Ardian Haçkaj and the CDI expert Fjoralba Caka, praised the importance of the new justice bodies’ organization and functioning through a legitimate process. This process is an important factor for the organization and functioning of the new justice institutions in the most sustainable way, according to the principle of good governance, as well as in relation to the expectations of the Albanian citizens and international partners.
The co-authors of the report highlighted the importance of internal processes, which should be followed by the new justice institutions in terms of effectiveness, accountability, or transparency of their activity. These processes should serve to ensure citizens’ access, as well as restoring public trust in the justice system.
Ms. Caka said: “Statistics from the High Inspector of Justice Office clearly show that citizens are willing to trust and cooperate with the institutions. Active communication between citizens and the HIJ Office, as well as the number of complaints, are indicators of the application of good models of transparency and the existence of their trust in the activity of institutions.”
During the session moderated by Director of Research at CEPS Steven Blockmans, High Inspector of Justice Artur Metani emphasized in particular that:
First of all, the justice reform in Albania has been going on for a few years now. However, we still don’t have a good photography of the performance of the new justice institutions so as to come to a joint conclusion on the “good performance” or “poor performance” of the new institutions. This process must be realized through a well-defined methodology based on quantitative or qualitative indicators.
Secondly, the justice reform in Albania has been very deep and to be honest also traumatic for Albanian society. This does not mean that it was not worthy. On the contrary, it was the best thing that ever happened to our country. However, we have to appreciate this sacrifice that the Albanian society made by supporting it. Personally speaking, – and I do not share the opinion of my colleagues in this table, – I have no doubt that the reform will become a success regardless of the time it needs to be implemented. Of course, no one, nor the EU itself, expects the reform to succeed in the next two or three years. The reform will be effective at least a decade later, and the evaluating process of the justice reform should be a process with rules being well-defined in advance.
Thirdly, in order to have a successful justice reform, we should not separate it from other dimensions or the development of society. We need to democratize all Albanian society and the best way to do it is through the integration process. It can’t be achieved only through online meetings or training. Face to face meetings, exchanging experiences as well as work culture and practices of the EU are also important. Therefore, I follow the idea that probably the stages to the European Union are long, but we can follow the other path, as Ardian called it “the institutional connectivity”. The more contacts the institutions in Albania have with their counterparts or other partners in EU countries and their structures, the better it will be for the reform itself as well as the development of the country.
The second intervention of the High Inspector of Justice Artur Metani
Mr. Metani: “Justice reform in Albania is probably one of the reforms that received the greatest public support, not only for the 140 votes in the assembly, in full unanimity of all deputies, but also with the support of the Albanian society, which felt the need for change and justice reform, and that hope, that feeling is still present in the Albanian society. However, it is being substituted by frustration, due to delays in setting up our institutions and due to the reform problems and the normal effects, it has produced.
But I would also like to emphasize the need that we should be present through the publication of our activities, transparent about our work, but also- and I insist on the fact that the EU methodology should be based on clear indicators because people need to know how the institutions in Albania are working and how their work is perceived in the EU. That is why I insist that this process should be evaluated step by step, giving credit to the process and also creating new standards for the future, in order to raise the hopes of the society and to meet its expectations.”
During his visit to Brussels, the High Inspector of Justice held a working meeting with COWEB, where there was a fruitful and intensive exchange of views on good governance and the resilience of the new justice institutions.
