High Inspector of Justice Mr. Artur Metani participated in the conference “Justice Reform in Albania and the High Inspector of Justice Role in strengthening the rule of law”, organized by the Center for the Study of Democracy and Governance, supported by the Embassy of the Netherlands in Albania, within the Cluster 1 platform project.
In his speech, the High Inspector of Justice praised the attention that civil society organizations pay to the HIJ work.
“I thank the Center (Center for the Study of Democracy and Governance), which organized this meeting today, as well as the Embassy of the Netherlands, because it is the third or fourth time that different organizations have organized activities regarding the work of the High Inspector of Justice and it is a pleasure to see that our work is praised, or at least analyzed or reviewed on the basis of professional analysis,” said Mr. Metani
The High Inspector of Justice focused on the reasons that led to the justice system reform and the new architecture of justice institutions, as the basis for a new social mentality – the mentality of respecting the separation of powers, which in his view, it is not being conveyed today.
“The society, for different reasons, and we cannot judge the society, because due to the lack of prosecutors and judges, today citizens are not receiving justice. This is evident and of course we are in this part of the society, but on the other hand the new bodies of justice HIJ, HJC, HPC are taking measures as far as they are entitled by law, to address these issues. However, if we point the finger, without understanding the problem, without understanding the work of our institutions, the standards we are trying to set with great difficulty, which in our view, do not respond to the political debate of the moment but to the challenges of the future, and what we are trying to build concerns the next 10 years, the next 15 years, and not the solutions of present situation, because we solve the situation today, but most likely it will turn into a precedent, which we will suffer 10 years later. And so, we go round and round again in a vicious circle. Therefore, we must understand why the justice reform and the separation of powers were created. Once we begin to understand and accept with great difficulty this division of powers, then we will facilitate our future work. There are many difficulties at the moment, but at least we have a clear path for the future, with a clear vision for the future. This is my way of looking at what is happening today. We may not see eye to eye on this, but I think that we tried the opposite of what is happening today for 30 years, and this is where we are. Then let’s try to respect the separation of powers,” said Mr. Metani
Perspectives on the justice reform and the role of the High Inspector of Justice, were shared by the Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Reinout Vos, the head of the Sector for Good Governance, Justice and Law Enforcement in the EU Delegation, Ms. Lenka Vitkova, Regional Rule of Law coordinator, Embassy of the Netherlands to Serbia and Montenegro, Mr. Bart de Bruijn, as well as the executive director of the Center for Democracy and Governance Studies Mr. Arjan Dyrmishi.
The findings and recommendations of the study on the work of the High Inspector of Justice Office, by researcher Ms. Ilvana Dedja, were discussed during the conference focusing on the role of the High Inspector of Justice in guaranteeing the integrity and accountability of the judiciary by Mr. Rene van Veen, judge at the Court of Appeal in the Netherlands, Ms. Isida Koka, advisor in the cabinet of the High Inspector of Justice, Dr. Erind Merkuri, lecturer at the Faculty of Law at the University of Tirana, Mr. Marash Logu, legal advisor of the parliamentary group of the Democratic Party in the Parliament of Albania.
