Kruja District Court is a small court composed

of only four judges as of January 2014.

Following the 2013 Court Leadership Confer-

ence, the USAID/JuST Programme (JuST) and

the OSCE Presence in Albania (the Presence)

saw an opportunity to work with the Kruja Dis-

trict Court to significantly improve court opera-

tions by implementing active case management

practices. The project was titled “Justice

without delays”. It immediatelly received the

full support of the Ministry of Justice and the

High Council of Justice which did not hesitate

to assist the succesful implementation of this

initiative.

Research conducted by the Presence and JuST

on the efficiency of court proceedings was the

basis for initiating the project. Such research

showed that the efficiency of civil and criminal

proeedings in the Albanian first instance courts

was weak. According to one of the reseaches on

civil trials (the Presence’s report Towards Justice)

47.7% of the observed hearings were non-

productive. These were hearings were nothing

substantial for the solution of the case happened.

In other words, no arguments from the parties

was made, no act or evidence was delivered.

A more active and functional management of the

court proceedings is considered as one of the

most effective solutions to improve judicial

proceedings. This approach is being

implemented by the Kruja District Court through

the project at hand. The Court aims to take a

series of practical steps to reduce the number of

hearings in civil trials and to avoid non-

productive hearings.

The Project started with a base-line study on

the efficiency of court proceedings in the Kruja

District Court. The purpose of the study was to

collect data which would serve as a reference

for the implementation of the pilot project. In

August 2013, the Presence and JuST reviewed

files of decided criminal and civil cases and

collected some data on the lengh and

productivity of court hearings, as well as

reasons of their postponements.

32 court files were selected (346 court hearings),

out of which 21 related to civil cases, tried on

the merits,(293 court hearings) and 11 related to

criminal cases.

The review of files was focused on: (1) Length

of trials (referring to the number of days and

hearings) and (2) Productivity of hearings relat-

ed to (a) postponed hearings, (b) delays which

may be avoided (c) active actions from judges

and trial participants in order to accelerate pro-

ceedings.

As shown in the graphs to the right, the length

in number of days and hearings is quite high.

JUSTICE WITHOUT DELAYS PROJECT

Background

Data analysis Baseline data

The base-line study showed also that the general

percentage of the non-productive hearings in Kruja

was high. For the civil proceedings the percentage

was 48.8%, comparable with the figure contained in

the Towards Justice report (47.7%). For the criminal

cases, the percentage of non-productive hearings

was 51.3%.

Reasons of postponements were many. They are

provided in detail in the following charts

respectively for criminal and civil cases.

REASONS OF POSTPONEMENTS IN CRIMINAL CASES (N=61 HEARINGS)

REASONS OF POSTPONEMENTS IN CIVIL CASES (N= 271 HEARINGS)

Data analysis (continues)

A two-day, off-site retreat was held in December 2013 with the

entire court (at that time 6 judges) and the chancellor to reflect

on the data collected in Kruja, and to brainstorm solutions re-

ducing unnecessary delay and improving services to citizens.

A detailed action plan was produced from intensive discus-

sions facilitated by the Honorable Truman A. Morrison, a sen-

ior U.S. judge on the D.C. Superior Court. The action plan

contains a list of conrete objectives which serve to avoid non-

productive hearings, waisted time and unnessesary delays in

the District Court of Kruja.

Conduct up to 4 hearings in total for complex civil cases, as opposed to the average of 14 hearings which was

indicated by the base-line study in Kruja.

Conduct up to 3 hearings in criminal cases, as opposed to the average of 8.8

hearings.

6-8 December 2013

Meeting with judges of the Judicial District Court of Kruja with the support of USAID-

JuST and OSCE Presence in Albania

January 2014

Draft an action plan of concrete measures

Prepare a contact information form

Awareness campaign about the project

Leaflets and inform citizens of court measures

27 January 2014

Meeting with local parties in Kruja District

1 February 2014

Initiate application of concrete measures

9 April 2014

High-level meeting supported by the Ministry of Justice and High Council of Justice

May 2014

Introduction of the Project to the National Judicial Conference

August 2014

Measure the first project results

“JUSTICE WITHOUT DELAYS” IN KRUJA

In conclusion of the retreat with the judges, chancellor of the

court and project staff from OSCE and USAID-it,

December 2013.

ACTION PLAN

The Court’s Goals

Measures taken by the court

The court chancellor shall not accept claims by

claimants or their lawyers unless they come

with the evidence needed for solving the case.

(Claims submitted by mail shall be handed

over to the respective judge, so that he/she may

act in compliance with the law.)

The court chancellor shall ask the claimant to

fill in the contact form with all the information

needed for notifying the party.

Claims shall not be accepted unless the claim-

ant submits this form.

Improve notification procedures, using new

communication tools such as phone, fax, e-mail

and others.

Parties shall be expected to inform the other

party(ies) themselves about postponement for

a reasonable cause, or ask the court to do this

for them.

Measures related to the Kruja District

Prosecution Office

Prosecutor must be present in every court

hearing.

The investigation file must come with the list

of defendants and witnesses, and their accu-

rate and full addresses, as well as any other

contact info available (tel, fax, e-mail, etc.).

Prosecutor must make sure he/she takes

measures for notifications to be made, and re-

quired evidence to be submitted.

In cases of accelerated trials, prosecutor must

be ready to give their final conclusions since

the first hearing.

Measures related to the Kruja Police

Commissariat

Notify defendants and witnesses prior to the

court hearing or send the relevant service re-

port to the court when notification is not

made.

Provide the mandatorily escort for witnesses,

within the given deadlines, whenever re-

quired by the court.

CONCRETE MEASURES TAKEN BY THE COURT

Meeting with representatives of local institutions where judges presented

the measures taken in implementation of the project, in January 2014.

Improve preparatory hearings

Improve preparatory hearings by assigning

experts and witnesses during this hearing if

necessary.

Parties must exchange their evidence and

claims in writing outside the hearing (through

the court). They will be informed by the court

that no new evidence shall be accepted after

the first hearing.

Avoid non-productive hearings.

Court shall impose sanctions on parties that

cause unjustified delays, and shall inform their

supervisors.

Measures related to lawyers

Lawyers are obliged to be present in every hearing.

No requests for postponement shall be accepted by

the court from lawyers unless they provide docu-

mented evidence.

The lawyer’s participation in another trial shall not

be accepted by the court as a reasonable cause.

Must make sure they submit the evidence in the

first hearing, informing the other party thereof be-

fore the hearing.

Explanations about the case must be submitted in

writing.

Must fulfil every task assigned by the court before

the next hearing.

The court shall notify the Chamber of Lawyers of

Lezha and the National Chamber of Lawyers.

In criminal cases, lawyers shall present their final

conclusions in the same hearing with the prosecu-

tor, if possible.

Measures related to the Immovable Property

Registration Office

Have a representative in each trial.

Respond, within the date of the consecutive

hearing, about any information or evidence re-

quested by parties in trial, or, if not, to answer

the party in writing about the reasons of refusal.

Respond to all requests sent by the court in a cor-

rect and timely manner.

Measures related to experts

The expert must be present in each hearing,

when requested by the court.

Being in another trial or not having time to carry

out the expertise may not be accepted as reasons

for postponement.

Measures related to the Detention Institu-

tions

Send the documents requested by the court,

submitting them to the chancellor before the

court hearing, or have them presented by their

representative(s) in the hearing.

Have a representative in the trial, whenever

requested by the court.

Provide legal consultation to offenders on the

legal criteria they have to meet in filing a crim-

inal claim

Activity of Kruja Post Office

Mail clerks successfully notify the parties be-

fore the hearing in order to avoid postpone-

ment of hearings.

Notify in accordance with Civil Procedure

Code and Criminal Procedure Code require-

ments (when a party refuses to receive the no-

tification, or when there is a witness to be noti-

fied).

Make sure a contact form is attached to the

summon and to the evidence of the plaintiff,

for the parties to fill and sign for the court.

Respond in writing about any information re-

quired by the court before the next. The expertise act must be submitted to the

court before the consecutive hearing and a

copy must be made available for the parties

before the hearing.

Sanctions imposed against non-compliant ex-

perts.

CONCRETE MEASURES TAKEN BY THE COURT

Measures related to the Probation Office

Have a representative in trial, when requested

by the court, in order to avoid postponement

of hearings.

Make the assessment report for the offender

within the date of the consecutive hearing, and

submit it to the chancellor or present it in the

hearing.

PROJECT RESULTS JANUARY – JULY 2014

Compared number of cases

concluded in

January- March 2013 and 2014

“FOR JUSTICE WITHOUT DELAYS”

is supported by these partners:

This document is based on the presentation drafted by the Chair of the Kruja District Court, Mrs. Alma

Hoxha in the context of the High Level Meeting held on 9 April 2014 at the Ministry of Justice, where the

first results of the “Justice Delays Project” were published.

December 2014

This informative leaflet was prepared in the context of the Judicial Development Project of the OSCE Presence in

Albania and the USAID/Strengthening the Justice System Programme (JuST). Its content does not represent

necessarily the viewpoints of the OSCE Presence in Albania, the USAID or the Government of the United States.