The Faculty of Law of the University of Tirana, in co-operation with OSCE Presence in Albania and Università di Pavia organized an international scientific conference on "Crime, society, criminal law and justice reform", in Tirana, on 10 June 2024. About sixty participants discussed in depth current trends of crime and the response of the criminal justice to crime through prevention, repression, awareness-raising and rehabilitation of offenders. Participants included fellowship programme students, students of the Masters Programme in Criminology, academic staff of the Faculty of Law and the Faculty of Social Sciences, leading researchers, judges, prosecutors, and PhD candidates.
"The main purpose of the conference is the inclusion of young researchers in quality scientific activities. The establishment of the Research Centre in Criminology will boost training of new researchers and create opportunities to obtain funds for research projects," said Artan Hoxha, Rector of the University of Tirana.
Dean of the Faculty of Law Dorina Hoxha said that the study of the causes and prevention of criminality in all its dimensions would be the priority of the Centre's scientific activities.
"The Executive Master Programme in Criminology has the potential to be ground-breaking for Albania, departing from a classic approach to crime, based on investigation and punishment, switching the focus and effort to a more encompassing approach. Hopefully, an increasingly large number of Albanian law-enforcing professionals will improve their skills and ability to make use of empirical data in order to efficiently tackle crime through a modern, scientifically based perspective," said the Head of the OSCE Presence's Rule of Law and Human Rights Department, Mauro Puzzo.
Director of the International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Albania John Kastning and esteemed academics of the University of Pavia and University of Cambridge's Institute of Criminology also addressed the conference.
The conference was organized as part of the OSCE Presence's project "On Establishing a Master's Programme in Criminology," which is financially supported by the Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs of the United States Government, and implemented in close co-operation with the Faculty of Law of the University of Tirana, with the support of the Faculty of Social Sciences, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Interior.
The Executive Master's Programme in Criminology, the first of its kind in Albania is a multi-disciplinary programme, which is research oriented. The Master's Programme offers a comprehensive, integrated curriculum, which is beneficial for various career paths in the justice system. The programme allows students to explore the inter-relationships between crime, justice and society in a comparative context, as well as promote restorative justice for victims and victim-centred responses. Through the Master's programme, the Presence aims at improving the research capacities of professionals, academics and policy-makers in Albania to identify root causes of crime.
A milestone of this project is the establishment of a Research Centre in Criminology at the Faculty of Law. Through this centre, the research conducted will be subject to quality control and compliance with the legal framework in order to provide adequate analyses on root causes, patterns, drivers of crime and crime prevention as well. Criminological research lies at the heart of criminological theory, influences social, public and security policy development, as well as informs criminal justice practice.
