TIRANA, Aug. 4 – “Contemporary VISION for Development and Human Rights” Centre, with the support of Central European Initiative (CEI) and the Office of the Council of Europe in Albania organized an Intercultural Training “Breaking the Vicious Circle of Roma Cultural Isolation” on 27 – 29 June 2007, Tirana – Albania, according to a Council of Europe newsletter.
In the framework of the Joint Programme V EC/CoE on Support to the Training of Court Administrators in Albania, the 3rd Steering Committee Meeting took place on 5th June, under the co-chairmanship of the School of Magistrates of Albania and the EC Delegation. The meeting took place in the Ministry of Justice, also with participation of the Ministry, the High Council of Justice, the Office for the Administration of the Judicial Budget, representatives of Albanian courts and the Council of Europe. The Steering Committee meets twice a year, provides policy guidance to the program, and reviews and approves its work plans.
CARPO Project, in collaboration with Ministry of Interior and General Prosecutor’s Office, organized a two-day training session on witness protection. The training took place in Tirana on 11-12 June, 2007. Twenty-five prosecutors and police officers participated in this workshop.
In June the Council of Europe (CoE), in co-operation with the OSCE Presence in Albania and the Albanian Justice Ministry, organized a conference on privacy and personal data protection.
The head of the CoE Data Protection Unit, Sophie Meudal-Leenders, said that the Council of Europe wants to support Albania’s Government as it establishes a personal data protection legal framework that is compliant with European standards.
During the Conference, the participants discussed personal data protection, the upcoming reform of data protection legislation in Albania and how this affects the work of the institutions and businesses in the country.
Participants agreed on the importance of good laws and practices related to the protection of privacy and personal data. It was also stressed that such a legal framework would contribute to a sound basis for the civil registry, as well as foster the trust of citizens in the way their personal data is handled, both in the public and private sectors.
The event gathered more than 60 contributors representing the main Albanian public institutions, private sector agencies, as well as international organizations. It marked the launch of a Council of Europe project called “Data protection within the framework of the civil registry system of Albania”, implemented as part of the OSCE Presence project to help the Government modernize the civil registration systems.
The project is paid for through a grant agreement between the OSCE Presence and the European Commission Delegation in Albania, with a financial contribution from the Council of Europe.
