Kutse

Conference of Chief Justices for Central and Eastern Europe
June 9, 2025 – June 10, 2025, Vlora, Albania

Survey of Chief Justices

We need your assistance in preparing the Agenda for the upcoming Conference of Chief Justices of Central and Eastern Europe that will be held in Albania. It is important that the topics for discussion be relevant and important to you and your judiciary. The information you provide will be used in finalizing the Agenda. Please return your survey response as indicated at the end of the survey.
1. Name, title and country:
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2. What is the best email address or addresses to reach you going forward?
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3. What are some of the most critical issues now facing your court and judiciary? Please list and shortly describe.
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4. Would you be willing to make a presentation on a particular issue or challenge faced by your court, or on any of the issues listed below? If yes, please provide a brief description of the issue.
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5. Please indicate your interest in the following possible discussion topics for the Conference (max 5 topics):
Topic
Very Interested
Moderately Interested
Not Interested
1. Harnessing digital tools for efficient justice delivery- Current and coming uses of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in judicial administration and proceedings — risks and benefits.



2. Public confidence in the judiciary – experiences in Central and Eastern Europe; mechanisms used by courts in our region to ensure and increase public confidence through greater transparency, better communication about court decisions and procedures, and responses to criticism by the press, government, and social media; techniques being used by countries in other parts of the world.



3. Judicial Independence and Integrity - moral, ethical and professional issues in appointing and promoting independent judges, and techniques for ensuring judicial integrity (the proper definition of judicial corruption, fighting judicial corruption, strong ethical codes, extraordinary judicial vetting).



4. Challenges in ensuring unified interpretation of the law by the Supreme Courts- The relationship of ordinary and special jurisdictions, role of judicial precedents, the relation between judicial precedents and the independence of lower courts judges.



5. Upholding Justice through timely adjudication —techniques for reducing backlogs and delays in the Supreme Courts.



6. The relationship between the domestic and international jurisdiction.
(ECJ, ECHR)



7. Freedom of expression for judges/ magistrates- right to free speech and the potential compromises of independence, impartiality, dignity of office and the judiciary’s authority.



8. Divergences between the Supreme and Constitutional courts. Limits of jurisdictions and the effects/consequences in jurisprudence. Judicial activism and avoidance.



6. Are there other topics or subtopics under this questionnaire that you would like the Conference to address now or in the future? If so, please list them.
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Please email your response to the CEELI Institute (Robert Strang [email protected]), with copy to Judge John Walker [email protected], Judge David Campbell [email protected]; Bjorka Duka [email protected], Ida Vodica [email protected], no later than Monday, March 3, 2025.