Enhancing the capacity of SPO under SPAK

In 2019, the ‘Special Anti-Corruption and Organized Crime Structure’ (SPAK) was established under   The SPAK comprises the Special Prosecution Office (SPO) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI). Cases are first handled by the Anti-Corruption and Organized Crime Court of First Instance (SPAK Court), the Anti-Corruption and Organized Crime Court of Appeal and the High Court. The SPO comprises around 20 highly skilled Special Prosecutors and 60 administrative support staff without legal secretaries or judicial/legal support. Special prosecutors handle cases at all levels of courts, including the Supreme Court. NBI consists of investigators both from the Albanian State Police as well as various other backgrounds with varying investigative skills.

Since establishing the SPAK, the SPO has seen a significant increase in investigations and prosecutions. However, this growth has not been matched by an increase in the SPO’s capacity. The number of cases handled by the SPO has grown exponentially while the staff and resources have remained the same. To address this, there have been requests to adapt to the SPAK law, including the need for more staff and the adaptation of legal advisors. These requests submitted to parliament in the summer of 2022, crucial for the SPO’s effective functioning, have yet to be approved.

Despite its successful track record in prosecuting Anti-Corruption and serious organised crime cases, the SPO’s organisation has yet to achieve the desired effectiveness. The current’ Strengthening the SPO’ project has made significant strides in organising qualified legal support to alleviate the prosecutor’s workload, underscoring the SPO’s potential. However, further support is needed to fully realise this potential and enhance the SPO’s effectiveness. In addition to the limited capacity of the administrative staff, the capacity of the investigative staff also continues to hinder the full effectiveness of the successful investigation and prosecution of cases.

The project will build on the work done by previous projects, particularly the project ‘Strengthening the SPO’. From the information and results of the project, this project seeks to continue to build towards the effectiveness of the SPO and the efficiency of the Special Prosecutor. Where the previous project focused on the overall effectiveness and challenges of the SPO, on policy and legislative advice and a pilot of creating better administrative advice, this project will focus on furthering the results gained in the pilot. The pilot worked to test improved working relations; the project will support the further implementation and lessons learned of the pilot; this includes a specific request for support in training on legal drafting and legal analysis. The project will also focus on the capacity building of the SPO special prosecutors in this new stage of consolidating SPO/SPAK within the judicial system with the increased workload. The SPO has expressed a need for support in enhancing the capacity of the financial investigation unit. Leveraging the Netherlands’ expertise in financial investigation and financial detection, this project aims to strengthen the financial investigation unit by providing training and workshops to special prosecutors in collaboration with investigators.