USAID Rule of Law Project
Vlora Citizen-Court Forum
July 11, 2008

Good Morning.  Thank you for participating in this public forum.  I want also to thank Chief Judge Malaj and the Court for their effort and support in organizing this forum. 

As many of you know, a key US objective is to help Albania strengthen respect for the rule of law and improve its prospects for Euro-Atlantic integration.  The USAID Rule of Law Project seeks specifically to improve the performance, transparency and accountability of the Albanian court system and, in so doing, to build public trust and confidence in Albanian justice. 

The USAID Program has recently begun to work with a number of Albanian courts, including the Vlore District Court, as well as the district courts of Durres, Saranda, Shkodra, Elbasan, Pogradec, the Tirana Serious Crimes Court and the Gjirokaster and Tirana Appellate Courts.  Our joint activities in these courts will strengthen judicial and court administration; increase court transparency and integrity; provide public and media access to court hearings, court records and court decisions, and reduce the delay in the courts’ disposition of cases.

We want to begin our implementation of these joint activities in the court with a snapshot of how people perceive and experience the courts.  Engaging the people present here today -- judges, citizens, lawyers, prosecutors, civil society organizations and media representatives -- in a public forum is a step in the direction of creating that snapshot.

This is the second of three forums.This forum has 2 goals.  They are to develop a better understanding of the perceptions and experiences of how the Vlora  District Court is administering justice, and to explore methods and techniques for successfully stimulating interaction, dialogue and greater understanding between the courts and the public in Vlora and in other districts.

In order to accomplish these two goals, this forum has been designed to be interactive with each of you participating with your opinions comments and suggestions.  You will be discussing court performance and justice delivery, the level of transparency and the nature of the interaction among judges, staff, lawyers, prosecutors and citizens.  Of course the quality of the services currently delivered by the court’s judges and staff is extremely important when discussing court performance and transparency.

In closing, let me say thank you again for participating in today’s forum.  I hope you find it challenging and interesting and that at the conclusion of the forum there will be some good comments and suggestions. 

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