Gjonaj said that, “regarding the legislative framework of justice reform, amendments to 41 articles of the Justice Reform package have been adopted in pursuit of the Constitutional Court ruling to unblock the swearing-in procedures for judges and prosecutors.”

“Constitutional amendments to 46 articles or 1/3 of the Constitution have been adopted, followed by the change of entire legislation in effect for the justice system,” said Gjonaj.
Gjonaj added that, “there are 1922 articles amended in 27 laws.”

“Constitutional amendments and the entire legal corpus adopted in the framework of justice reform ensure integrity, accountability and efficiency in the administration of justice for citizens in line with the best European standards,” said Gjonaj.

“After the approval of the constitutional amendments on July 21-22, 2016, and the package of 7 organic laws of justice reform a few months later, the process of adopting 20 other laws as part of the package of Justice Reform has concluded,” said Gjonaj.
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In her speech, Gjonaj said that it is a great privilege to be present in the capacity of Minister of Justice of Albania, in the session entitled “On challenges and measures to prevent and fight corruption.”

“This meeting serves as a reminder to advance our efforts in preventing and fighting corruption, but above all, to renew our commitment at the national and international level to find new ways and means to fight corruption,” she said.

Regarding the topic, the fight against corruption, Gjonaj said that “corruption undoubtedly undermines the principles of democracy and the rule of law. It encroaches upon the essence of the trust that the citizen places on the government in order for the latter to fulfil its responsibilities. “The progress and welfare of a country is profoundly affected by the impediments posed by corrupt practices at all levels of government.”

She added that “during the last five years, as never before, Albania has undertaken the most radical reform in the justice system, which aimed to restore the trust of citizens in a judicial system based on integrity, transparency, professionalism, efficiency and above all independence. ”

“Justice reform has marked a turning point in terms of intensifying efforts in the fight against corruption and organized crime. In order to crack down on endemic corruption in the judiciary, a unique system of vetting judges was built. In addition, an entire institutional architecture in the fight against corruption and organized crime has already become functional, including a Special Prosecutor for the Fight against Corruption and Organized Crime, special courts, and the National Bureau of Investigation. Such an institutional architecture enables the channeling of punitive efforts, excluding corrupt judges and prosecutors from the system, and ensuring that their corrupt practices are investigated and punished. Now that the justice reform is at an advanced stage of its implementation, we proudly affirm that the results of such a reform have been extremely rewarding and encouraging. “For the first time, senior officials have been fired, prosecuted and convicted of corruption, their assets have been confiscated and important criminal cases are now being reopened,” she said.

Gjonaj also added that “Implementing justice reform in Albania has been a very challenging effort. Nevertheless, through the invaluable support of our international partners, the EU and the US, we have managed to rise to a level worthy of this challenge.
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“The changes that were approved in 2016, the constitutional changes that constitute Justice Reform, which was then followed by the legal package of the organic laws regulating the functioning of all new institutions, each change made to approximate or to observe and implement the decision of the Constitutional Court, other changes that were adopted on May 7, all of them are pursuant to what constitutional changes provided for the part of Justice Reform,” Gjonaj said.

According to her, “any kind of change, which has been superficial or has enhanced efficiency, has always been in line with the legal framework of constitutional amendments adopted in 2016”.

Gjonaj said that “Although justice reform has been imperfect, slow, although its implementation has encountered problems, Justice Reform has been implemented as it is written and in line with constitutional changes, sticking to the same principles, the same standards and goals for which it was created, ie to fight corruption, to increase independence and ensure the impartiality of all trial, but also of new justice institutions.

Gjonaj reiterated that the changes approved on May 7 do not absolutely affect the essence of what was approved in 2016, which means that the changes have been focused mainly on increasing the efficiency of the justice system.

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