Justice Minister Eduard Halimi has announced the Administrative Courts system will start operating next October
TIRANA, June 4 – The approval of the three laws required by the European Commission for Albania’s EU bid, among which the law on the High Court has also paved the way for the establishment of the Administrative Courts system, a perennial request by the business community. The law requiring a qualified majority of 84 votes was approved last week in a special session summoned to approve the three laws required for Albania to obtain EU candidate status.
Justice Minister Eduard Halimi announced this week the Administrative Courts system will start operating next October. “The High Council of Justice and government must establish the infrastructure for the functioning of this court,” said Halimi, adding that selection of new judges will be made next September and October.
One year after the approval of the Administrative Courts law, the establishment of the courts system dealing with business issues required some final changes to the Supreme Courts law foreseeing the establishment of the Administrative College as the highest Administrative Court instance to complete the full legal infrastructure ensuring the independent legal review of administrative decisions.
The approval of the three laws on the judiciary, the public administration and the regulation of Parliament had become a hot topic in Albanian politics with the ruling Democratic Party-led coalition accusing the opposition Socialists of preventing the country’s EU integration and the opposition demanding government’s willingness to implement other laws and settle local government disputes in regional municipal councils in return for consensus.
Last March, the High Council of Justice selected forty-three judges for six first instance Administrative Courts. The Administrative Courts of Vlora, Shkodra, Durres, Korca and Gjirokastra will have 4 judges each while the Tirana Administrative Court will have 16 judges. The Appeals Administrative Court is expected to have seven judges.
The approval of the legal framework paving the way to the Administrative Court and the payment of accumulated debts to private companies are the two key requests the business community had made to the political class ahead of next June’s elections.
The Albanian government owes the private sector in unpaid bills over Euro 200 million, according to economy experts and business representatives.
When Parliament adopted the law on Administrative Courts in May 2012, the three-instance court system was supposed to be set up in early 2013. The bill was approved after almost four years of being blocked due to a prolonged political stalemate after the 2009 general elections and consensus on bills requiring qualified majority of votes reached only in late 2011
Business costs associated with the absence of administrative courts are estimated at more than 400 million euros a year, say government officials who were pushing to have the law on the new court system approved in parliament. The law is an important step in reforming the judicial system, ensuring legal review of administrative decisions by independent courts, increasing transparency and fighting corruption in the civil service. The Law on Administrative Courts provides for first instance administrative courts to be set up at central and regional level, and for a court of appeal and a dedicated chamber in the High Court. This should ease the case burden of other courts and allow specialised judges to deal with administrative cases, provided that the necessary resources are allocated.
Back in 2010, the United States withdrew its support for the Administrative Courts bill after both the majority and opposition failed to find consensus on its approval in Parliamentary because of the ongoing political stalemate since the June 28, 2009 general elections. “Failure to pass this law resulted in the withdrawal of continued U.S. assistance to the Administrative Courts component of the nearly 16 million dollars from the Millennium Challenge Corporation agreement.”
