Tirana / Members and staff of the High Council of Justice (HCJ), representatives of the Ministry of Justice and Albanian judges convened in Berat to discuss the management of case backlog in the domestic courts.

Supported by EU and Council of Europe, the event reaffirmed the HCJ’s commitment to strengthening judicial efficiency with the support of CEPEJ and its tools.  Vice-President of the HCJ Yllka Rupa and Deputy Minister of Justice Tedi Dobi underlined that backlog reduction is a priority for Albania’s justice system, to improve efficiency, ensure timely responses for those seeking justice, and align with European standards on fair trial.
Participants reviewed CEPEJ’s judicial data and efficiency indicators to identify strategies for backlog reduction. Discussions focused on potential organisational improvements, innovative case management practices, digital solutions, and targeted training initiatives for implementation in courts over the medium and long term.

Furthermore, in co-operation with the EU and Council of Europe joint action on ‘Strengthening the protection of the right to property and facilitating the enforcement of ECHR judgments in Albania (D-REX III)’, the event included a case study focusing on property cases requiring financial expertise. This enabled participants to analyse working methods and explore practical challenges involved in reducing the backlog in these complex cases. 

The activity was organised in the framework of the action “Strengthening the Efficiency and Quality of Justice in Albania” (SEJIV), co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe under the Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye.