TIRANA, Feb 17 /ATA/ – Prime Minister Edi Rama said on Tuesday that the overhaul of Albania’s justice system was painful but irreversible, describing it as a necessary transformation from what he called a “decaying” structure into a fair and functional system.
Speaking at the presentation of the new head of the National Agency for Information Society (AKSHI), Igli Tafa, Rama said Albania was living through a historic phase marked by two parallel revolutions – digital transformation and judicial reform.
“There is another revolution taking place, harsher and more painful, with more wounds and more brutality, but necessary – the transformation of the justice system from a living decay into a fair, equal and functional system,” Rama said. “We are still far from that goal, but the road is without return.”
Albania’s justice reform, launched in 2016 with European Union and U.S. backing, has led to the vetting of judges and prosecutors and the creation of new anti-corruption bodies, including the Special Anticorruption and Organized Crime Prosecution Structure (SPAK).
Rama acknowledged that the process has come at a human cost, saying investigations can deeply affect individuals’ lives.
He argued that in practice, the presumption of innocence was often overshadowed by a presumption of guilt, calling this a “dramatic element” of the transition period.
“If there is an investigation, in a just world everyone should be presumed innocent, whereas often everyone is presumed guilty and asked to prove otherwise,” Rama said.
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