Dear,

Let us thank in advance the European Union, Council of Europe and all our international partners who have supported and continue to support us in our efforts to reform the justice system with key focus on improvement of the efficiency of judicial system.

Without doubt, the assistance provided by the Council of Europe through CEPEJ Project contributions very precious in the reforms.Company data provided by CEPEJ served undertaking a reform of the judicial system related to the reorganization of the number of judges at Albanian courts. Accordingly,in 2012 the Ministry of Justice launched the initiative for changing the number of judges at the courts, in order to establish the number of judges of the administrative courts and increasing the number of judges at the appellate courts. In the framework of this initiative a preliminary study was drafted by the Ministry of Justicefor which,among other indicators, the Study of European Commission on Judicial Efficiency(CEPEJ) on the implementation of management tools of SATURN at Tirana District Court.

The reforms undertaken recently by the Ministry of Justice aimed at strengthening the accountability and effectiveness of the judicial system. Specifically, administrative courts are established and made operational at 6 first instance courts, 1 appellate court and the Administrative Section of the Supreme Court. The functioning of the administrative court marks a success story as the review of court cases at all instances has well-defined time limits, where the 30 day case trial ends at the Administrative Appeals Court and in full respect of the rights of the parties to a due legal process, trial at theAdministrative Section of the High Court within 90 days. Currently administrative courts are facing a growing number of cases registered for judgment.  The digitalization  of these courts remains one of the priorities of Ministry of Justice.

It has significantly increased the effectiveness of disciplinary proceedings against judges, where during this period there is a significant number of judges who have undergone disciplinary proceedings. There are about 17 judges prosecuted with 5 of them subject to disciplinary measures. Meanwhile, the measuresof disciplinary proceedings for all other judges are under a reviewing process. We have two judges who were subjected to trial accused of passive corruption, and the resulting 3 judges are subject to the administrative and judicial procedures for irregularities in their financial statements.

Practical implementation of legal reforms undertaken in the fight against corruption at court is expected. Corruption of all judges and senior officials is investigated and adjudged by the same means as organizations and criminal gangs.

Digitalization of the judicial system remains a priority of the Ministry of Justice. It has already a system of judicial case management (ICMIS) implemented at 30 courts that provides increased transparency and citizens' access to the courts. Also, the audio system is installedat 80 % of courts, which increases the effectiveness of the activity of courts and court administration.

Also, the Ministry of Justice has undertaken bold reforms that have also affected other areas of the justice system, among which those related to the penitentiary system, are the most important ones.

Finally, let me inform you that the Ministry of Justice is drafting strategic document on justice reform for the period 2014 - 2020. The support and assistance of the Council of Europe in drafting this document and its action plan, itdeemed very important and every contributionthat can be offered for this document, is welcomed.

As above, I reiterate the assessment of the Ministry of Justice for the contribution provided so far by international partners and we share the belief that the results of this project will constitute added value to assistance. Successful reforms require proper study and analysis of the situation and the sector, namely statistical data analysis and measurement indicators. The more accurate and complete the indicators are the more comprehensive and concrete are the recommendations and addressing of reforms. In these conditions, I express the overall support of the Ministry of Justice for the successful implementation of the project to implement an efficient justice system.