Denada Jushi
We often hear from citizens who have gone through the ordeal of waiting for justice the expression:
"Justice delayed, justice denied."
And in Albania, the time to receive justice in a timely manner seems to have become a losing battle.
The findings of the report of the Albanian Helsinki Committee are related to the Court of Appeal in Tirana, where civil proceedings now last on average up to 2787 days, approximately 7.6 years.
A very long time compared to the period before the reform.
This situation comes after the implementation of the new judicial map in 2023, a reform that reduced the number of courts from 38 to 20, with the aim of increasing efficiency and better distributing resources.
But merging six appeals courts into a single one has produced the opposite effect: an unbearable overload.
The case stock has increased by almost 700%, while the court is operating at only 36% of its capacity due to a lack of judges. Currently, the Court of Appeals in Tirana operates with only 28 judges out of the 78 foreseen in the organizational structure.
As a result, thousands of citizens wait for years for a decision, calling into question the basic standard of due process: trial within a reasonable time.
But the problems do not stop at delays. The report highlights that the system entered this reform with a significant lack of human and financial resources. Albania had only 8.9 judges per 100 inhabitants, well below the regional average, while the budget for justice remains among the lowest in Europe.
The vetting process, although considered necessary to clean up the system, led to a drastic reduction in capacity. In several years, the system operated with only 55% of the necessary judicial staff.
But the problem is not only in the Court of Appeal. Even the courts of first instance are facing serious difficulties. In Tirana, although the productivity of judges has increased slightly, the trial time for civil cases has increased by over 125%, reaching 269 days. Meanwhile, each judge faces a workload of up to 928 cases per year, a figure that makes it difficult to guarantee quality in decision-making.
The situation is even worse in Fier, where indicators point to a system on the verge of collapse. Trial times for civil cases have increased by 181%, productivity has fallen, and clearance rates have worsened. Judges are faced with over 900 civil cases and hundreds of criminal cases per year, while infrastructure remains inadequate.
The report highlights that the Fier Court has only five courtrooms, while one judge is forced to review up to 20-22 cases per day. In addition, the system is also facing archival overload, with thousands of files that need to be managed each year.
The only one that makes a difference is the Tirana Administrative Court, which presents a more positive model. There, trial time has been reduced by 22.8% and productivity has increased by over 60%.
Another serious issue highlighted by the report is the decline in citizens' access to justice. In some courts, a decrease in the number of new cases has been observed, not because conflicts have been resolved, but because citizens are facing greater distances, higher costs and procedural barriers.
Citizens from rural or peripheral areas now have to travel hours to attend court proceedings, while for the most vulnerable this has become a real obstacle to access to justice. The report notes that Roma, Egyptian communities, people in economic difficulties or the LGBTI community are disproportionately affected by these delays and additional costs.
Infrastructure and technology still remain problematic. The report highlights a lack of effective digital systems, problems with electronic case management, and a lack of online tools that would ease the burden on citizens and lawyers.
In essence, the reform of the judicial map, intended as a step towards modernizing the system, is still yielding unclear results. In some cases there are improvements, but in most courts there is evidence of increased trial time, an increase in the case stock and a decrease in efficiency. A factor that directly affects this situation is the lack of resources and insufficient planning of the reform.
The Albanian system still has one of the lowest budgets in Europe for justice, with only 17.5 euros per capita, far from the average of 80 euros.
But in the end, it remains clear that the most difficult battle the country faces today is justice, even after a multitude of "reforms."acqj.al
