TIRANA, Dec 8 /ATA/ Minister of Justice, Ulsi Manja, stated on Friday that the justice for January 21 is a fundamental test to protect the values of civilization and democracy in Albania.
In his remarks on the panel “Justice reform and the Fight against Corruption: Legislation, Enforcement, Rapprochement with the EU, Artificial Intelligence” as part of the SP Congress, Manja said that, ‘for every free person in this country, justice for January 21 is a fundamental test to protect the values of civilization and democracy in Albania.”
“For us Albanian socialists, January 21 is a painful wound, but in this Congress, unlike any other time, we feel a little relieved in our pain, since the decision of the European Court for Human Rights in Strasbourg has definitely cleared the way for justice ,” said Manja.
“The decision of the European Court of Human Rights proves more than ever that justice never forgets to deliver justice. Every decision-making, every spark for the prospect of restoring the rights violated on January 21, by the new justice today, fills us all with hope in this hall, but also outside it”, said Manja.
He said that the modernization of the state has its origins in justice.
“Only a state that guarantees in practice the standards of justice for the citizen can progress and modernize. When the SP took office in 2013, we promised the Albanians a completely independent justice system, an aspiration brewed since the time this party was in opposition.
The 2013 plebiscite was forged by the Albanian socialists through a historical, constitutional and legal effort to give Albania the justice that they have been deprived of since the foundation of the Albanian state in 1912,” said Manja.
Minister Manja emphasized that the new judiciary is now composed of judges and prosecutors who have passed vetting, thanks to a process monitored very rigorously by our international partners through the International Monitoring Operation.”
“At this stage today, the reform has fully fulfilled its mission and the new institutions of justice are in the stage of their consolidation and efficiency, delivering tangible results for every Albanian citizen”, emphasized Manja.
But, he added, “today it is up to the bodies of the justice system to make sure that every Albanian citizen gets justice up to the standards, justice founded on evidence and facts and which guarantees respect for the rights and freedoms of every citizen through a due legal process. And this will have to be done by the new justice”.
“Today, thanks to the results of the justice reform, Albania has become a trustworthy partner in the fight against crime, proving that the era of impunity already a thing of the past. Today, Albania ranks after the United Kingdom, Switzerland and Norway, among the non-EU countries, for the largest number of investigation teams with Eurojust. This fruitful cooperation with European structures, even before joining the EU, is clear evidence that the new justice delivers results and its reputation in Albania and in the world is improving day to day”, said Manja.
“If in 2016 the allocation for justice from the state budget was 12.6 billion ALL, today with the 2024 budget recently passed by parliament 26.2 billion ALL have been allocated for the new justice system. Only the salary fund has increased by 230% in 7 years. We think that investing in the human capital of the justice system is a prerequisite for guaranteeing the independence of the justice system,” said Manja.
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