Albania Among Countries with the Fewest Female Judges in Europe

Women make up the majority of professional judges in Albania, but their share is among the lowest in Europe and the lowest in the Western Balkans.

In 2024, women accounted for 55% of professional judges in Albania, while men made up 45%, according to Eurostat data. At this level, Albania ranks near the bottom of the European table, ahead of only a few countries such as Poland, Germany, Turkey, Liechtenstein, Ireland and Iceland.

In the Western Balkans, Albania had the lowest percentage of female judges. In Serbia, women accounted for 73% of professional judges, compared with 64.8% in Bosnia and Herzegovina, 63.8% in Montenegro and 61.4% in North Macedonia.

The gap with Serbia, which leads the region, stands at 18 percentage points. Albania also trails neighboring European Union countries such as Greece, where women accounted for 75.5% of judges, and Croatia, with 72.3%.

The data show that although women are a majority in Albania’s judiciary, the gender split is more balanced than in most countries in the region and across Europe, where the judicial profession is more clearly dominated by women.

Women a majority in almost all of Europe

According to Eurostat, the highest share of female judges was recorded in Slovenia, where they accounted for 81.4% of the total. It was followed by Latvia with 79.7%, Greece with 75.5%, Luxembourg with 73.6%, Serbia with 73% and Croatia with 72.3%.

In France, women accounted for 70% of judges, while in Estonia and Hungary their shares stood at 68.7% and 68.6%, respectively. Levels above 65% were also recorded in Lithuania, Portugal, Finland and Romania.

At the other end of the ranking, women were a minority in Iceland, at 43.1%, Ireland at 43.6%, Liechtenstein at 45% and Turkey at 49.6%. Germany had an almost equal split, with women accounting for 50.7% of professional judges.

Eurostat notes that Ireland was the only European Union country where men made up the majority of judges. In Slovenia, Latvia and Greece, by contrast, women accounted for more than three-quarters, or close to that level, of the total.

The EU had fewer judges than a decade ago

In 2024, the European Union had an average of 15.7 professional judges per 100,000 inhabitants, down from 17.7 in 2014.

The highest ratio was recorded in Croatia, with 43.3 judges per 100,000 inhabitants, followed by Slovenia with 40.2, Luxembourg with 36, Bulgaria with 35.4 and Romania with 35.3.

At the other end, Ireland had just 3.6 judges per 100,000 inhabitants, Austria 4.3, Spain 6.2, the Czech Republic 6.7 and Italy 7.9.

Eurostat’s definition includes full-time and part-time professional judges authorized to hear civil, criminal and other cases, including in appellate courts. It does not include non-professional judges or lay members of judicial bodies./Monitor