Opening the Doors to a Transparent Judicial System
The Albania Pilot Court Administration Reform Project
Shkoder District Court is the second largest court in Albania with approximately 20 judges and another 22 staff. It hears and decides almost 2000 cases a year. When USAID’s implementing partner, East West Management Institute (EWMI), inspected the court in September 2003, the situation was, mildly putting it, "chaotic." It had only three working telephones, a few stand-alone computers and secretaries climbing up and down four flights of stairs in order to pass messages and phone calls. Administrative services were scattered throughout the court, mixed in among judge offices and courtrooms. The public was tramping in and out of the halls compromising judge’s security and protection of witnesses, as well as facilitating potential tampering of files. The citizens who came to the courthouse had to often wait outside in the cold rain until called and faced a web of corridors and closed doors in search of assistance.
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| Angjelina Skuteri, Chief Secretary, Shkoder District Court with new telephone and upgraded computer. |
Thanks to USAID/Albania and the dynamic cooperation between EWMI and the Shkoder court management team, the Albania Pilot Court Administration Reform Project (APCARP) is helping to create a court system in Albania that can carry out judicial branch responsibilities in an efficient, impartial and transparent way. Shkoder District Court, the second of four pilot courts, has undergone considerable infrastructure improvements and staff training in the last year.
Today, court patrons are helped at newly constructed customer service windows and wait in a comfortable public seating area; they are aided by the “one-stop-shop” layout of the newly rehabilitated ground floor where files and information are conveniently located near the court entrance; employees are better trained to efficiently handle concerns; and administrative offices are grouped together in an easily accessible and secure location. Moreover, court staff and judges no longer have to walk around the court to communicate with each other or to litigants.
“My office is where the case starts and where it ends,” says Angelina Skuteri, the Chief Secretary at the District Court. “When someone comes to me with a claim, I can input it directly into the computer, distribute it electronically to the judges, follow the case, and finally inform the client of the judgment. This process used to take so long and information concerning each case was not easily accessible. Now the public only has to come to me.”
All judges and court clerks/secretaries have new telephones on their desks, connected to a dependable PBX switchboard that allows external calls by up to eight users at a time. The court’s generator provides back-up power so data is not lost during the almost daily 12 - 15 hour power outages. And additionally, all computers in the court are connected to a modern local area network.
“The judges usually come to me if they have a question on a case. I can now inform them about what happens each day in the court and follow up on concerns immediately,” says Elka Dajci, Chancelor of Shkoder District Court.
Through USAID's training courses the judicial system workforce is becoming more professional and more efficient in handling cases. Already, over 150 judges and administrative staff in the Tirana and Shkoder District Courts, plus chancellors throughout Albania, have been trained in case-management and delay reduction, computer technology and professional development.
I know that the staff is working on my case and I will have the information that I requested immediately without paying any bribes,” says Sotir Ziu, an Albanian citizen with a property claim. “I am confident that I will be treated fairly in this court.”
EWMI will continue to train judicial staff in the following year of this two year program. Two new courts will be chosen for the program and will begin reconstruction soon. The Shkoder District Court’s new local area computer network was designed and built to serve as a platform for an improved case management system. USAID/Albania and East-West Management Institute have taken the next steps toward such a system by agreeing to work with the Open Society Foundation – Albania (Soros) in Shkoder to install the software to run the case management information system developed by an Albanian company and funded by Soros for the Tirana District Court. This system allows greater public access to the justice system by publicizing court activities on the Internet. The USAID/Soros cooperation in Shkoder District Court is a good example of donor coordination.
At a brief ribbon cutting ceremony followed by a press conference, the U.S. Ambassador, James Jeffrey, praised the program and the productive cooperation with the District Court judges. “This is a step forward to improving the Albanian economy,” he said. “A transparent judicial system attracts investments.” However, he warned that without the full cooperation and commitment of the parliamentarians, ministers, judges, media and citizens to fight corruption in the judicial system, abuses will continue and economic development will be inevitably hindered.
Senior level corruption is high and abuses still damage the very core of the judicial system in Albania. However, by creating a transparent judicial system, citizens see with their own eyes a legal system producing results quickly and efficiently. Through APCARP, USAID/Albania is building trust and confidence for both judges and lawyers in the legal system and empowering citizens to stand up against injustice.
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