TIRANA, April 11 – An overwhelming majority of citizens support the need for reform in the country’s judicial system, a poll released this week showed.
The survey, conducted by the Institute for Development Research and Alternatives (IDRA), revealed that 91 percent of those surveyed backed the justice reform with 67 percent responding they “fully supported” it regardless of their political affiliation.
The study also found that the more informed people were on the reform, the more likely they were to support its reformation. Television was the main source of information for 95 percent of interviewees.
The poll also showed that judges and prosecutors were listed as “least interested” on the reform with only 17 percent of respondents saying the category was “very interested” on the reform. Meanwhile, the vast majority of respondents believe the international community as more interested on the reform compared to all domestic actors. More than 3 out of 4 people believe that the European Union and the U.S. embassy are “very interested” on the reform, compared to just 1 in 2 respondents believing the government or political parties were “very interested” regarding the reform’s adoption.
The majority of those surveyed were optimistic regarding the chances for the adoption of the reform by parliament within the calendar year. Over 65 percent said that they expected the reform to be completed in 2016, however they were of the opinion that certain groups, organizations or individuals will attempt to hamper its adoption by parliament.
Although a whopping majority of respondents believe the reform will fight impunity and increase the professionalism of courts, Albanians are a bit skeptical of its effectiveness.
Fifty-two percent of interviewees said the reform could be a product of political negotiations which would negatively affect its success or that people in the judicial system were corrupted and a change of the system would not guarantee its improvement.
The poll had a sample of 1,000 randomly selected adults nationwide and was carried out in the first two months of the year.
