In its latest country report on Albania, the European Commission warned delays in establishing the administrative court due to lack of political consensus remained an obstacle to investment
By Ervin Lisaku
TIRANA, March 13 – The administrative courts bill, targeting the establishing of a modern courts system with the capability to adjudicate administrative cases fairly and efficiently, is back on Parliament’s agenda this time with both the majority and the opposition determined to pass this law which required a qualified majority of 84 votes. The bill was approved in principle this week by both the ruling Democrats and the opposition Socialists 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.
In this week’s discussion at the parliamentary legal affairs committee, both parties agreed to make amendments to the initial draft after discussing it with interest groups.
The bill foresees establishing six administrative courts, the same as the number of Appeals Courts with judges being proposed by the Justice Ministry and decreed by the President of the Republic. An Appeals Administrative Court will also be set up under the bill which is expected to undergo further changes after business associations make their recommendations. The Supreme Court will remain the final court of appeal for administrative cases.
The Civil Service Commission, an independent institution overseeing the stability of the public administration will merge into the newly established courts system.
“In my assessment as a drafter, the project is a good basis that makes possible the approval in principle of this draft law by this committee to pave the way for the debate in principle on a series of important issues and the examination of each article to make the necessary improvements,” said Armando Subashi, an opposition Socialist Party MP at the parliamentary legal affairs committee this week.
Prime Minister Sali Berisha also hailed the approval of the law in principle as one of key requirements by the European Commission in Albania’s efforts to obtain EU candidate status.
“I congratulate the Legal Affairs Committee for starting examining a very important law for the Albanian business community, but also for the administration and its employees, the law on the Administrative Court, which was drafted under the best USAID expertise,” said Berisha at the meeting with his Democratic Party MPs this week.
In its latest country report on Albania, the European Commission warned delays in establishing the administrative court due to lack of political consensus remained an obstacle to investment.
The opposition Socialist Party which has held round tables with business representatives says simplification and reduction of court procedures remains the key issue to be solved in bill.
Meanwhile, representatives of business associations have expressed concern over the technical qualification of judges that will be selected to handle administrative cases.
According to the Construction Association, the majority of cases the administrative cases will handle are related to customs and tax issues, as well as property restitution. Shpetim Beqiraj, a representative of this association called for special knowledge on tax and customs procedures to be considered as a criterion when appointing administrative court judges.
“Our key concern is having over 30 percent of judges experts in these fields and having law as their second profession. In the end, this court tries professional cases and it is difficult for simple legal representatives to handle technical cases in detail,” said a representative of the tourism association in the round table organized by the Socialist Party.
The Albanian Banks Association also underlined the importance of the criteria on selection of judges. “I think that it is important for these kind of judges and the fields they cover to have real specialists,” said an association representative.
Fatmir Xhafaj, the Socialist Party Secretary for Coordination and Legal Affairs said the opposition would submit amendments after consultations with interest groups such as lawyers, businessmen and field experts. According to him, the goal of the draft law is improving the quality of the law, saying that “the law belongs neither to the Socialists, nor to the Democrats, but serves the citizens.”
The Administrative Courts draft law was approved by government in autumn 2008 but failed to be discussed in Parliament after the 2009 general elections first due to the opposition’s parliamentary boycott and later because of ongoing political stalemate. Positive signals came only in late 2011 when both the majority and opposition ended their political stalemate by approving several Codes requiring 3/5 of the votes.
In October 2010, the United States embassy in Tirana announced it was withdrawing its financial 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. In a statement, the embassy said that 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.
The Administrative Courts law is designed to reduce opportunities for corruption, improve transparency in the judicial system, strengthen the rule of law, boost citizen trust in public institutions, and further align Albania’s judicial system with required European Union integration standards. The law was identified as an important requirement for Albania, and it has had wide support from political parties and from the business community.
The embassy had warned that the bill should have been passed by September 30, 2010 in order not to jeopardize continuation of US government assistance on the project.
Business costs associated with the absence of administrative courts are 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.
