Press Release

General Prosecutor, meetings in Croatia with his counterpart, Mr. Dinko Cvitan

General Prosecutor, Mr. Adriatik Llalla, invited by his counterpart, Mr. Dinko Cvitan, discussed the manners to strengthen the cooperation in criminal investigation, mainly focused on the fight against economic crime and corruption. Albanian Prosecution Office considers important the experience of the Croatian Prosecution Office to strengthen the mechanisms against corruption at high levels of the state administration.

Likewise, Albania and Croatia have had continuous cooperation, which requires greater intensification on the fight against criminal groups operating in the Balkans and beyond.
For this reason, Mr. Llalla and Mr. Cvitan shared the same attitude that they must find the necessary mechanisms for the exchange of the information as soon as possible.

Mr. Cvitan, who was before also the head of USKOK, the special anti-corruption unit, informed the General Prosecutor’s Office of Albania with the way how the system of the Croatian Prosecution Office functions, as well as their priorities as a member of the European Union.

From his part, Mr. Llalla informed his counterpart about the efforts of the Albanian authorities in the fight against corruption and organized crime. Mr. Llalla said that Albania is a democratic country in the consolidation and the strengthening of the rule of law is necessary to bring it closer to the European community.
In this context, the General Prosecutor informed his counterpart that now in Albania is working to achieve the justice reform. In the Albanian Prosecution Office evaluation, the justice reform should aim the strengthening in the legal and functional framework of the institutions, based on the successful model of Croatia.

During the discussions, the delegation of Albanian Prosecution Office was widely introduced with the organization and functioning of the Croatian Prosecution Office. On the basis of the specific law, the Croatian Prosecutor's Office is an independent institution with internal autonomy, similar to the current system of Albanian Prosecution Office.
Following the visit, Mr. Llalla will hold meetings with President of the Croatian Council of the Prosecutor and the head of USKOK, a special Anti-Corruption Prosecution Office.

Prosecutorial Council in Croatia is an independent institution, consisting of 11 members, 7 of whom are prosecutors. This Council is chaired by a member from the ranks of prosecutors.
The draft of justice reform in Albania is envisaged the creation of an independent structure of the Prosecutorial Council, with a fragile majority of prosecutors, but that will be run by a non-prosecutor member. Even the manner provided in the draft for the organization of the Council, the Prosecution Office has expressed its dissatisfactions. In the Prosecution Office evaluation, the model of the Council in Croatia is more than adequate for the Albanian institution.

The final meeting in Croatia, Mr. Llalla will hold at the offices of USKOK, the special investigation unit, on the fight against corruption. USKOK is a structure under the General Prosecutor’s Office of Criatia, which has a judicial police force under itself. USKOK is a successful model, which is stated in the draft of justice reform in Albania as a proper mechanism to fight corruption at high levels.
However, unlike the Croatian model, the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office in Albania is thought to function as an independent institution, without depending on the GPO.

In the Prosecution Office evaluation, the USKOK role can be adapted very well by the Prosecution Office and the Court for Serious Crimes. These structural units are considered successful stories in recent years in Albania and need specialized structures and human resources to increase their efficiency in the fight against corruption.