LA judge to teach law students in Albania

A local news crew approached Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge J. Stephen Czuleger on the streets of the capital city of Albania and asked if they could interview him.

"They asked, 'Why are you here?'" Czuelger recalled with amusement. "That was always the question I got. How would they know why the former presiding judge of the largest trial court in the world would come to Albania of all places?"

That was four years ago. Now, he's gearing up for his second teaching trip to the Balkan nation where he will impart lessons to young law students who wouldn't have had the chance three decades ago, before the fall of the communist dictatorship.

"Until '91 or '92, they were like North Korea," Czuleger said. "They were completely isolated and cut off. Listening to Western music, you could be executed. ... Now they basically have a two-party system and basically have democratic elections. They're doing well, they're going to be discovered."

Czuleger is going as the recipient of a Fulbright Specialist Program award and it's his fourth trip to Albania. He also received a Fulbright award to teach in Albania in 2014.

His first visit to the country was to visit his son, who volunteered for the Peace Corps and learned to speak fluent Albanian.

Czuleger, on the other hand, doesn't speak a word of the language, but he gets by because most graduate students speak English. For those who don't, the judge recruits help from classmates.

"I have the student next to them translate," Czuleger said. "I don't let them off the hook."

He'll be teaching at the University of Aleksander Moisiu in Durres, a port city along the Adriatic Sea as well as the Albanian School of Magistrates in Tirana, the capital.

Czuleger uses the interactive Socratic Method that's new to Albanian students, instead of a professor lecturing for an hour and a half and then leaving the classroom, he said.

Since men tend to pursue careers in engineering, most of Czuleger's students are women and they're eager, he said. They want to learn how to combat corruption and develop a standardized legal system, a requirement for Albania to be admitted to the European Union, he said.

On his first teaching trip to Albania, he was asked to discuss the First Amendment and the landmark Texas v. Johnson case, which declared flag burning was protected free speech. This time around, he plans to talk about the rule of law, criminal law, police brutality and the importance of having an independent judiciary.

He recalled hearing news a few years ago that the Albanian prime minster was threatening to jail judges who wouldn't sentence people to prison for stealing electricity.

But Czuleger said he's optimistic corruption can be successfully fought.

"We have a good system now with very little corruption," he said, referring to the national government. "Fifty to 100 years ago there was a lot of corruption. ... You can get there. We don't have a perfect system, but if you realize that this is an issue and you're going to address it, that in my view is half the battle."

During his upcoming stay, Czuleger said he'll again adopt the Albanian diet, meaning lots of grilled meats, pasta and plenty of walking.

"I lose weight when I go," he said, laughing.

And sometimes people join him on his walks. He recalled once meeting the head of the criminal law department at a local university, who offered to escort him six blocks so Czuleger could meet his wife for dinner. It was that same degree of hospitality the locals showed his son that motivated the judge to want to give back.

"They have a very strong ethic for welcoming guests and protecting guests," Czuleger said.

As for ending up on Albanian television as a result of that interview, he plans to incorporate the experience into his lesson plans.

"I use that as an example with new students who want to be lawyers," Czuleger said. "I tell them, 'Always be prepared for the unexpected.'"