Council of Europe against Albania’s law on ‘Political Cleansing’

TIRANA, Oct 10 – The Albanian law on ‘Political Cleansing’, the purge of those who collaborated with the former communist regime, was considered as ‘unconstitutional’ by the Venice Commission, the body of the Council of Europe consisting of experts in constitutional matters.
At the request of the Constitutional Court of Albania, the Venice Commission decided on the constitutionality of the Albanian law of 22 December 2008 on ‘Political Cleansing’ which allows a newly created administrative body to terminate, for an indefinite period of time and through a specific procedure, the mandates of the President, the MPs, the ministers, the judges of the Constitutional and the High Courts.
According to the Venice Commission, the unconstitutionality referred mainly to the text and primarily due to the fact that being an ordinary law it cannot impose itself on other laws.
In Albania the Constitution sets out the reason and the ad hoc procedures to end the mandate of the President of the Republic, the Constitutional Court judges and parliamentarians. The law on ‘Political Cleansing’ would overcome such constitutional articles.
The Council of Europe also opposed the law saying that on one hand it does not include an inquiry into the individual behavior and on the other it provides the purge for life.
‘Political Cleansing’ in Albania was among highlights of Venice Commission plenary session last week.
The Venice Commission advises member states on the basis of international standards on the legal foundations of democratic societies. It held a plenary session on 9 and 10 October 2009 in Venice, Italy, the Council of Europe announced.