We, the Albanian journalists who do report on judiciary issues, under the direct custody and supervision of the Center for Public Information Issues, CPII, are about to lay the foundations of the Justice Journalists Forum.  

We want Judiciary Branch to have a better understanding of and an appreciation for the vital role played by the media in establishing an informed citizenry.

On the other hand, we want journalists to better understand the inherent ethical limitations on the judiciary obligated to ensure the fundamental fairness of the trials over which they have jurisdiction.

OUR MISSION

The Justice Journalists Forum, founded under the custody of the Center for Public Information Issues (according to article 12, letter b of its statute), dedicates itself to strengthening an independent judiciary and a free press, the safeguards without which there would be no democracy in Albania.

Through its educational work the center ensures that judges, prosecutors, police representatives on one hand and journalists on the other, develop insight into their respective roles.

Critical as they are to the system of government, neither institution can fully flourish without the other. The courts breathe life into the constitutional guarantee of a free press. And the free press validates the power of an independent judiciary. Together they give voice to the mute, strength to the weak. The Forum’s sole purpose is to promote that understanding.

OUR GOALS

1. To provide quality instruction to judges, prosecutors, lawyers, chancellors about the media and their needs and interests regarding in reporting on legal activities.
2. To provide quality instruction to journalists about Albanian’s courts and their interests and processes of operation to better ensure accuracy in media reporting.
3. To provide quality training to court personnel in the duties of the court public information officer in cooperation with the Ministry of Justice, High Council of Justice and Chancellors community  (Public Information Officers).
4. To work with judges and journalists to help improve the media’s access to public information in the court system.
5. To serve as the comprehensive informational resource on issues involving the relationship between the courts and the media.
6. To promote the model courtroom to judges and journalists as an effective means of creating a media-friendly courtroom environment for covering court cases.
7. To conduct original research on issues involving the relationship between the courts and the media that will help lead to resolution of areas of conflict.

STATEMENT OF VALUES

1. Appreciation and support for a free and independent press.
2. Appreciation and support for an independent judiciary.
3. Emphasis on accuracy in reporting on court developments.
4. Emphasis on fair and impartial trials to all parties in court proceedings.
5. Support for improved media access to appropriate court information.
6. Promotion of courtesy and civility in discourse about the issues involving the relationship between the courts and media.
7. Emphasis on respect for our legal and journalistic institutions and the processes by which they operate.

STATEMENT OF VISION

The Justice Journalists Forum, under the custody of the Center for Public Information Issues, will be judged a success if the judiciary will come to have a better understanding of and an appreciation for the vital role played by the media in establishing an informed citizenry.

Likewise, the Justice Journalists Forum, under the custody of the Center for Public Information Issues, will have succeeded if, through its work, journalists better understand the inherent ethical limitations on the judiciary obligated to ensure the fundamental fairness of the trials.

The Justice Journalists Forum also will have succeeded if more legal affairs journalists gain knowledge of court procedures and the law itself so as to increase the degree of accuracy of the coverage of the courts.

The vision of the Justice Journalists Forum is to take the lead in promoting both the independent judiciary and the free press aiming to achieve greater harmony between the courts and the media through its programs, information and dialogue.

OUR PURPOSE

1. To provide the appropriate atmosphere for continuing debates and discussions among journalists and judges on the relationship between the two. Clearly, both sides have a keen interest in improving understanding of the other’s challenges. The Forum and the Center together will provide both the place and the institutional support for the two professions to come together.
2. To create special activities involving both the judiciary and the media to facilitate the understanding and appreciation each has for the other’s responsibilities, including training-seminars for judges to learn more about the media and its operations and how to deal with the media in given circumstances and training-seminars for journalists, particularly journalists newly assigned the legal beat and journalism students seeking to specialize in legal reporting.
3. To serve as a resource center for journalists who need sources for stories they are writing or editing. By maintaining lists of judges from across the country who may be willing to comment in ways that do not conflict with ethical restrictions, the Forum and the Center may be able to assist reporters in getting information that may not be available otherwise, for example, from a judge in a pending case who would feel compromised by commenting during trial. 

Through the Forum, with the direct support of the Centre, journalists and other media representatives will:

• Participate in national conferences that bring together journalists, judges and attorneys.
• Link to other journalists, not only in Albania, but also in Kosova, Macedonia and further more abroad, in order to exchange advanced experiences.
• Join with other working journalists to discuss such issues as Media-Courts guides, cameras in the courtroom, access, and confidentiality of sources.

Through the Justice Journalists Forum, with the direct support of the Center for Public Information Issues Center, judges, lawyers and other court personnel will:

• Learn how to work and communicate with the media.
• Understand how the media system works and objectively evaluating its professional necessities to inform the public
• Establish contact with journalists who cover the courts and report on judiciary issues
• Participate in national conferences, seminars and courses with local and international journalists.