Justice reform has not solved the problem, Albania has a significant shortage of judges

Despite the profound reform in the judiciary and the multi-year process of re-evaluating magistrates, Albania continues to have one of the lowest numbers of judges in relation to the population in Europe.

In 2024, the country had only 9.66 professional judges for every 100 thousand inhabitants, according to Eurostat data, processed by Monitor (for Albania, Eurostat only reports data on the number of judges, the ratio per 100 thousand inhabitants is calculated by the editorial staff).

This level was about 39% lower than the European Union average of 15.7 judges per 100,000 inhabitants. 
Among the 32 European and regional countries for which data is available, Albania ranked ninth from the bottom. Only Sweden, Malta, Poland, Italy, the Czech Republic, Spain, Austria and Ireland had a lower ratio. Compared to other Western Balkan countries, Albania has a large gap. Montenegro had 42.49 judges per 100,000 inhabitants, Serbia 40.18 and North Macedonia 20.15.

In relation to population, Montenegro had over four times more judges than Albania, while Serbia had about four times more. Data for Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo are not included in the respective table.

The low level reflects the shrinkage of the judicial body during the revaluation process, when departures, resignations and dismissals were not replaced at the same pace by new appointments. As a result, some courts have operated with vacancies, while the backlog of cases and the length of proceedings have become one of the main problems of the system.

Other Eurostat data showed that Albania has 55% of female judges, one of the lowest in Europe.

Croatia and Montenegro lead Europe

Croatia had the highest ratio in Europe, with 43.32 professional judges per 100,000 inhabitants. It was followed by Montenegro with 42.49, Serbia with 40.18 and Slovenia with 40.16. High levels were also recorded in Luxembourg, with 36.01 judges per 100,000 inhabitants, Bulgaria with 35.37 and Romania with 35.31.

In Germany the ratio reached 26.3, in Greece 26.06, while in Finland and Estonia 19.38 and 18.11 judges per 100 thousand inhabitants, respectively.

Eurostat reported that across the European Union, the number of judges per population has also decreased at the European level over the past decade. The EU had an average of 15.7 professional judges per 100,000 inhabitants in 2024, down from 17.7 in 2014.

Ireland had the lowest number of judges per population, with just 3.64 per 100,000 inhabitants. It was followed by Austria with 4.32, Spain with 6.18, the Czech Republic with 6.72 and Italy with 7.86.

Poland registered 8.01 judges per 100 thousand inhabitants, Malta 8.52 and Sweden 9.04, all below Albania's level.

However, direct comparison between countries must also be interpreted in light of the different organisation of judicial systems, the competences of courts and the role of other legal personnel. Eurostat also clarifies that the data for Austria and the Czech Republic only include judges authorised to hear criminal cases.

How is a professional judge defined?

The indicator includes full-time and part-time professional judges authorized to hear civil, criminal, and other cases, including those in appellate courts.

They must be recruited and paid for the exercise of the profession of judge. The data does not include non-professional judges, lay members of the judiciary and magistrates who do not exercise this function as a profession./Monitor