The project aims at a sustainable structure of research and teaching on Transitional Justice in Albania, thereby strengthening the foundations of democratic debate and democratic institutions in the country, supporting the wider movement of 'dealing with the past', and incorporating social, institutional, judicial and human rights aspects in line with international Human Rights standards and OSCE commitments.

By involving the public, including academics, students and civil society in a discussion on rule of law and human rights violations under the communist regime, by fostering the conduct of research on transitional justice as a whole and by ensuring sustainability of results though the development of a Master’s Programme on Transitional Justice, the project will lead to a better-informed and facts-based discourse on how Albania deals with the human rights violations of its past, how it can learn from other societies going through a period of transition, and how it can further consolidate democracy and rule of law.

The Project will focus on four main interlinked components:

i) the development of the structure and curricula for the Master’s Programme at the University of Tirana, ii) building capacities of the academic staff of the University of Tirana to teach transitional justice topics , iii) supporting the roll out of the first two-year Master’s course iv) offering academic conferences, workshops and seminars, as well as equip with resources (books, journal subscription, publication of researches) to further deepen the knowledge related to transitional justice among the academia, civil society, and general public.

Under component (ii), the Presence will hire six senior international experts to deliver three online training seminars for around 16 academic staff (including lecturers and assistant lecturers) of the master’s programme, in the field of social sciences, law and history. The training seminars will provide the trainees with the concepts, tools and skills that are needed to deliver the courses planned in the programme. The training will be focused on core courses, theoretical and methodological courses.

Under component (iv), for the purpose of supporting and fostering the academic debate on transitional justice, leading to a better-informed and facts-based discourse on the Albanian communist past, the Presence, in close co-operation with the University of Tirana, will issue a call for abstracts/papers for an academic conferences on dealing with the past, and is looking for peer-to-peer reviewers to serve as members of the conference’s review committee.

For more information see the announcement by the OSCE.