Developing reliable judicial statistics as a tool for measuring court performance in Albania

The European Union and Council of Europe joint action “Strengthening the Quality and Efficiency of Justice in Albania” (SEJ III), in cooperation with High Judicial Coucil, has started a series of trainings with representatives of the district, administrative and appeal courts on the implementation of the new methodology for the collection of judicial statistics based on CEPEJ guidelines.

The regional workshops will provide an opportunity for the national courts to gain a better understanding of their role in the implementation of new methodology for the improvement of the court performance and the justice services delivered to the Albanian citizens, in accordance with European standards.

In her opening remarks, the Head of the Council of Europe Office in Tirana Ms. Jutta Gutzkow, emphasized the importance of the new regulatory framework and increased capacities of court staff, reaffirming the commitment of the action to support the justice institutions with specific tools and methodology of the CEPEJ adopted to the Albanian context for developing an efficient court system.

The Head of the Commission on Ethics and Performance Evaluation in the High Judicial Council (HJC)Ms Brikena Ukperaj, appreciating the support of the action, emphasized the importance of the correct application of the new methodology and the consultations with the court staff on the difficulties encountered and issues to be addressed in this regard for the improvement of the collection of statistics in a uniformed way.

The seminar was attended by the staff of the courts in Albania, chancellors and administrative staff in charge of collection of statistics and manual registers of the courts and the respective directors of the court organization and standards and IT Department in High Judicial Council, which contributed to an interactive session and important clarifications about the unification of court registers that is the next step of the Action’s support to complete the new methodology for data collection.

This event took place in the framework of the action “Strengthening the Quality and Efficiency of Justice in Albania” part of the joint European Union and Council of Europe “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey 2019-2022” programme wich aims to assist Beneficiaries to comply with Council of Europe standards and European Union acquis in the framework of the enlargement process.