EU completes second justice assistance project

TIRANA, June 20 – The Justice Ministry and the European Union held a closing ceremony last week on a 4.5 million euro project to assist judiciary reform in Albania, titled EURALIUS II.
The 30 month-long project had brought to the country nine permanent legal experts from European Union Member States and two permanent local experts who worked with the Ministry of Justice and other judiciary actors in Albania.
The EURALIUS II leaves behind a very good record of achievements towards a transparent, accountable, and efficient Albanian judiciary, and also clear priorities and recommendations for the future.
As noted in the 2009 Progress Report of the European Commission on Albania, “the justice system continues to function poorly due to shortcomings in independence, transparency and efficiency”. The EU has long assisted Albania in addressing several of these shortcomings through improving judicial infrastructure (construction of the Serious Crimes Court in Tirana, the renovations and/or reconstructions of the courts of Saranda, Vlora, Dibra, Kor衠etc), and through bringing expertise to help with justice reform.
EURALIUS II, the second term of the EU-funded assistance project on justice in Albania, focused on issues such as law drafting and legal approximation, enforcement of rulings, justice organization and reform, inter-institutional dialogue, management capacities of the Judiciary and the Ministry of Justice, judicial budget administration and planning, court administration and case management, criminal justice, and land administration and immovable property rights.
The assistance was provided through a team of long- and short-term experts from EU Member States, study visits, train the trainers programs, workshops, conferences, and working manuals for institutions of the Albanian justice system.
During the closing ceremony, the Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Albania, Ambassador Helmuth Lohan emphasized that “reforming the justice system means that there should be no patchwork or ad-hoc decisions. The rule of law needs to derive from a comprehensive vision and an all-encompassing strategy towards the goals of transparency, accountability and efficiency”. Ambassador Lohan went on to underline that such a vision of the judiciary can only be achieved through broad political consensus, and that these challenges should be addressed as early as possible. Pointing to the practical aspects of reforming the judiciary, Ambassador Lohan recalled that “the rule of law is implemented by real-life people” and their professional capacities, will and integrity are essential to the success of justice reform.
The project was implemented by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Justice in consortium with the German Federal Ministry of Justice.