PERSONAL DATA GOVERNANCE IN ALBANIA’S E-JUSTICE SYSTEM. PRIVACY, ETHICS AND EU APPROXIMATION IN THE DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION OF JUSTICE

Resumo

The digital transformation of justice has become a central component of institutional modernisation, access to justice, and rule of law reforms. In Albania, the need for e-Justice has become particularly urgent following the judicial reform and the implementation of the New Judicial Map, which reorganised the judicial system and centralised appellate jurisdiction in a single Court of Appeal with General Jurisdiction in Tirana. This article examines the governance of personal data in the Albanian e-Justice system through the perspective of privacy, ethics, and EU approximation, arguing that the digitalisation of justice in its entirety should not be understood only as a technical modernisation, but as an institutional obligation to structural changes in the judicial system, procedural delays, adjournments of hearings, and the costs of physical access to courts. The article analyses Law no. 124/2024 on the Protection of Personal Data, EU standards, the European e-Justice Strategy 2024–2028, the e-CODEX framework, CEPEJ ethical standards and European good practices. Particular attention is paid to real-time notifications, access control, anonymisation, cybersecurity, audit trails and the supervisory role of the Commissioner. The article concludes that e-Justice increases efficiency, accessibility and public trust only if personal data governance is integrated into every stage of digital justice platforms.