Good morning, everyone!
It is a special pleasure for me to be at this event, with colleagues from justice institutions, international partners who have been assisting us for years, and representatives of civil society, on a topic that I think is close to our hearts, independence and accountability which are the two of the dimensions of judicial integrity.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank the MATRA project of the Kingdom of the Netherlands for organizing this high-level meeting with authorities of justice institutions, which in the next two years will focus, together with the team of inspectors and assistant inspectors at the HIJ, on discussions and trainings on improving the ethical standards of magistrates and promoting transparency, through the exchange of knowledge with Dutch judicial experts, with the aim of ensuring the long-term sustainability of judicial reforms in Albania. They will also work with judges and prosecutors with the School of Magistrates, so the impact is expected to be wide-ranging.
Thank you to Ms. Cetinel as the representative of the embassy, Ms. Blaisse from the School of Magistrates of the Netherlands, who will moderate the meeting today, and Judge Fierstra, whom I had the pleasure of meeting last year in his office at the Supreme Court in Hague, and who will bring us today the Dutch perspective on accountability and ethics in the judiciary.
To the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, as well as the other partners we have here today, I take this opportunity to greet them because they have always been fellow travellers of the Office of the High Inspector of Justice and the justice institutions, courts and prosecution
offices, on the journey to increase and strengthen professional capacities, through continuous training with the best work standards.
Likewise, the Civil Society Organizations, which have been close to our professional growth processes, through various projects, suggestions, and continuous communications, an added value I think for every public institution.
I am confident that the professional reflections of our institutions on judicial accountability and independence, which we will share today with each other and all of you, are a good opportunity to clearly understand more the dimensions of everyone’s work, starting from our daily work practice despite different public perceptions, on oversight, transparency and professional standards, as elements of our common interest in improving the efficiency of the justice system and strengthening public trust, the main reason for which the justice reform in Albania was undertaken and approved.
