The scientific symposium on the topic "Justice between tradition and artificial intelligence" was held at "Luarasi" University. The event was also attended by the Deputy Minister of Justice, Elona Hoxha, who gave a long speech on the historical transformation of justice and the challenges of the digital age.

Hoxha recalled the evolution of Albanian law, from customary law and the Kanun, to the construction of the modern state and the codification of the legal system according to European models, also mentioning the Civil Code of 1929. According to her, today the legal system is facing a major new transformation, related to artificial intelligence, which is being increasingly used in legal analysis, case management and decision-making processes. The Deputy Minister emphasized that, although artificial intelligence increases efficiency and access to justice, it cannot replace human judgment, social sensitivity and the ethical dimension of justice.

“Efficiency can never be a superior value to justice,” Hoxha said, underlining the need for clear legal and ethical standards in the use of technology in the justice system. She called for artificial intelligence to remain an instrument in the service of justice and not a mechanism that replaces its human essence, while preserving public trust and constitutional guarantees of due process.

Full word:
It is a privilege to be part of this scientific conference today, which addresses one of the most important challenges of our time: the relationship between legal tradition, institutional modernization, and artificial intelligence, especially in the function of the justice system.
The history of Albanian law proves that justice has not been simply a formal mechanism of norms, but a fundamental element of social organization and the preservation of community order. Albanian customary law, emblematically embodied in the Kanun, functioned for centuries as an autonomous and coherent legal system, regulating family, property and social relations in the absence of modern state institutions.
In this legal tradition, justice was based not only on the authority of the norm, but on the moral legitimacy of the community. At the core of this system was the preservation of social harmony and the restoration of balance between the individual and the community.
However, the construction of the modern Albanian state required a necessary institutional and legal transformation. The reforms undertaken during the Zog monarchy period marked the transition towards a centralized, secular legal system harmonized with European legal models. The codification of law, especially with the Civil Code of 1929, in the spirit of the French model, created the foundations of a modern, unified legal order oriented towards guaranteeing equality before the law and legal certainty.
Today, we face another stage of transformation, perhaps as important as the historical process of state modernization: the technological revolution of artificial intelligence.
Artificial intelligence is profoundly changing the way professions are conceived and practiced. Algorithmic systems are increasingly used for legal research, case law analysis, document drafting, case management, and even predictive models in the decision-making process. This development brings increased efficiency, reduced costs, and accelerated procedural processes.
But the transformation we are experiencing is not just technical; it is fundamentally philosophical and institutional.
The question being asked today is deeper than simply the use of technology in justice:
Are we gradually moving from a justice based on human reasoning, experience, and legal conscience, towards a justice mediated by algorithms?
This question touches on the very essence of the rule of law.
At a time when technology promises automation and maximum efficiency, there is a risk that justice will be reduced to a technical process of data processing, losing its human, ethical and social dimension. Justice cannot be understood only as the production of decisions; it is linked to public trust, to the perception of impartiality and to the guarantee of human dignity in every procedure.
On the other hand, artificial intelligence offers real potential for expanding access to justice. Through digital platforms, procedural automation and intelligent legal information systems, citizens can have faster, more transparent and cost-effective access to legal services. In particular, for countries with overburdened judicial systems, technology can contribute to reducing procedural delays and increasing institutional efficiency.
However, efficiency can never be a superior value to justice.
Precisely for this reason, preserving procedural guarantees takes on even greater importance today. The use of artificial intelligence must unconditionally respect:
•the right to a fair legal process,
•transparency and justification of decision-making,
•the right to effective protection,
• equality of parties before the law,
•as well as the right to be tried by an independent and impartial authority.
An algorithm can analyze precedents and probabilities, but it cannot fully replace human judgment, social sensitivity, and the ethical dimension that interpreting the law requires.
Therefore, the challenges we face are not only technological, but also deeply legal and constitutional, requiring a measured and balanced approach. Technology must remain an instrument in the service of justice and not a mechanism that replaces its essence.
In this context, the role of the state and public institutions is crucial:
to build clear ethical and legal standards for the use of artificial intelligence;
to guarantee the protection of personal data and privacy;
ensure algorithmic transparency and institutional accountability;
and to preserve the central role of human judgment in the justice process.
The Albanian legal tradition, despite its historical evolution, reminds us of a fundamental truth: justice is not built solely on norms and procedures, but on public trust, moral responsibility, and institutional legitimacy.
This is a lesson that remains just as relevant in the age of artificial intelligence.
Let us use this moment of transformation not to replace the human dimension of justice, but to strengthen it — so that our legal system becomes more efficient, more transparent, more accessible, and fairer, while preserving the fundamental values ​​upon which the rule of law is built.
Thank you and I wish you good luck!