OSCE Presence, Albanian Directorate of Free Legal Aid sign memorandum of understanding to increase justice access for all

Acting Head of the OSCE Presence in Albania Clarisse Pasztory and Free Legal Aid Director Ergys Qirici signed a memorandum of understanding, on 22 February 2024, aimed at outlining areas of mutual interest and strengthening co-operation between the two institutions.

The mission of the Free Legal Aid Directorate is to guarantee equal access to justice to all people. The memorandum is an expression of the Presence’s full support for the very important work of this agency established in 2020.

As envisaged in the document, the Presence will help increase the Directorate’s capacities through targeted training on communication with vulnerable persons for civil society organizations licensed to offer free legal aid, and will support the Directorate develop resource materials for visually impaired people and foreign citizens. The Presence will also support the full establishment of a new university legal clinic at the University of Elbasan. Both initiatives aim at increasing the public access to justice.

During the signing event, the OSCE Presence provided the Directorate with a manual commissioned by the Presence containing methods and techniques to be applied by free legal aid providers when communicating and receiving vulnerable groups.

In 2022, the Presence developed a guideline on communication and reception of citizens from such groups, including minors, victims of domestic violence, minority populations (particularly Roma and Egyptian), and people with disabilities. The guide served as a resource material for a training for about 30 Free Legal Aid staff from across Albania that the Presence organized in November 2023.

The signing event took place in the framework of the Week for the Protection of Crime Victims organized by Albania’s Ministry of Justice from 15 to 22 February 2024.