EURALIUS
EURALIUS is the European[1] Assistance Mission to the Albanian Justice System. The objective of EURALIUS IV[2] is "to strengthen the independence, transparency, efficiency, accountability and public trust in the Albanian justice system in line with the EU acquis and best practices"
EURALIUS (European Assistance Mission to the Albanian Justice System) is a project funded by the European Union.[3] After the finish of EURALIUS I, started EURALIUS II and later III and the latest is EURALIUS IV. The mission of EURALIUS III had finalized in June 2013. After an interval of more than one year EURALIUS IV started 1 September 2014 and is designed for a period of three years. EURALIUS IV is based on a EU Grant contract and is implemented by companies representing Germany (IRZ), the Netherlands (CILC) and Austria.
In total the EURALIUS staff consists of 16 persons, of which 5 are of international origin from various EU Member States and 11 of Albanian origin (national experts, project assistants, translator and drivers). Among the Albanian project partners are the Ministry of Justice, the Judiciary (courts), the High Council of Justice, the Prosecution, the Parliament, the Office for the Administration of the Judicial Budget, the School of Magistrates, the National Chamber of Advocacy, and the National Chamber of Notaries.
| Components / Activity Areas: |
|---|
| Justice Reform and organization of the Ministry |
| High Council of Justice and High Court |
| Criminal justice and Prosecution Office |
| Judicial Administration and Efficiency |
| Legal Professions and School of Magistrates |
The EURALIUS IV project is organized into the following main five activity areas:
1. Justice reform and organization of the Ministry
The main aim of this component is to assist the Albanian authorities to design and implement a justice system strategy with a view to guaranteeing independence, transparency and efficiency. Moreover, it intends to enhance the professionalism and accountability of the services of the Ministry of Justice and relevant subordinate authorities.
2. High Council of Justice and High Court
The activities envisaged under this component aim at supporting the High Council of Justice to ensure that decisions regarding the status and carrier of judges are based on objective, professional and transparent criteria in line with EU standards. The support to the High Court aims at enhancing its independence, efficiency and effectiveness ensuring that the court can fulfil its constitutional task to provide guidance to all other Albanian courts by unifying the judicial practice. This component will also focus on strengthening the inspection mechanisms for judges.
3. Criminal justice and prosecution office
The activities envisaged under this component aim at aligning the legislative framework in criminal matters including international cooperation to EU and Council of Europe standards and support reform of the criminal legal framework. Furthermore, the activities aim at enhancing the efficiency, independence and accountability of the Albanian prosecution service, including the alignment to the best European standards the career and inspections of prosecutors, the internal organisation and functioning of the general prosecutor office.
4. Judicial administration and efficiency
Within this component the focus is on improving transparency of court functioning and increased the efficiency of the administrative staff in the justice system. The component will focus on building an efficient and professional court administration staff. It will also focus at improving case management, procedural codes and the use of technology at a country-wide level. The component aims at reducing the length of trials, of courts backlog and improve service delivery to justice users.
5. Legal professions and School of Magistrates
The main aim of the activities envisaged under this component is to strengthen the National Chamber of Advocacy, National Chamber of Notaries and the State Commission on Legal Aid, in particular through support in regard to disciplinary proceedings, codes of ethics and training programs for both lawyers and notaries as well as through support to civil society institutions providing legal aid. Additionally, it aims at assisting the School of Magistrates by further developing the continuous training for judges and prosecutors.