TIRANA, July  3 /ATA/ The Chairperson of the High Judicial Council, Naureda Llagami, emphasized on Monday that “in the first 4 months, the Court of Appeal of the General Jurisdiction has conducted over 5300 court hearings and delivered final decisions for 2500 cases,” she said.

In her remarks in the Assembly where she outlined the annual report of the High Judicial Council, Llagami said that “the biggest project of the High Judicial Council this year was the implementation of the new judicial map. Today, the new judicial map is a reality. From February 1, 2023, there is only one Court of Appeal of General Jurisdiction, which covers the entire territory of the Republic.”

“Also, from May 1, 2023, there are 13 courts of judicial districts out of 22 such . From today there will be only 2 administrative courts of the first instance, thus concluding the third and last phase of the new judicial map,” Llagami said.

Regarding citizens’ access to justice, Llagami said that “the HJC has enabled the opening of service offices as structures that are up and running near the buildings of former courts in order to provide administrative services.”

Llagami announced that “the process of digitizing the court archive which has started for the first time will be a great help for the court staff and a positive instrument.”

Llagami went on saying that “in order to complete the judicial bodies in the courts, the High Judicial Council has handled over 560 requests by appointing 740 judges to adjudicate special judicial cases in those courts where there was a need. 10 judges were included in the delegation scheme and 9 other judges were transferred with consent.”

Llagami announced that “during 2022, the judicial system has seen a minimal reduction in workload, where the total number of cases under review in 2022 is 0.4% less than in 2021. Citizens have turned to the courts less bringing about a 12% decrease in new cases registered during 2022, compared to the previous year. Most of the courts have been functioning with a reduced capacity of judges, below 70% (25 out of 38 courts), while at the national level only 56% of the judges were effectively in office during 2022.”

Also, Llagami said that “throughout 2022, the number of the High Court mebers has increased to 16 members and currently a member of the Supreme Court has been decreed and there are 3 vacancies left, which are in the process of filling in.”

/k.s/sm/