“Administrative justice plays an important role in the country’s economic development, increases the transparency of administrative decisions and stimulates the modernization of the public administration,” says Justice Minister Nasip Naco
TIRANA, Nov. 4 – The four-year odyssey of administrative courts in Albania is finally over. Six administrative courts have been set up in Albania’s key regions opened this week, giving an end to the saga of the administrative courts system as 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.
Visiting the first instance administrative court in Tirana this week, Justice Minister Nasip Naco described the court system as a revolution in the Albanian justice system. “Administrative justice plays an important role in the country’s economic development, increases the transparency of administrative decisions and stimulates the modernization of the public administration,” said Naco.
Elvis Cefa, the deputy chair of the High Council of Justice, the state authority for the oversight of the activity of judges, said he was confident the administrative court system would have a great impact on the quality of administrative justice. Cefa assured vacancies were not a problem for the functioning of the administrative courts and that the High Council of Justice would proceed to fill up the remaining vacancies in its next meeting.
The establishment of the administrative court had been blocked by the approval of the three laws required by the European Commission for Albania’s EU bid, among which the law on the High Court. The law requiring a qualified majority of 84 votes was approved last May in a special session summoned to approve the three laws required for Albania to obtain EU candidate status.
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.
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.
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.
Business costs associated with the absence of administrative courts are estimated at more than 400 million euros a year, said 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 USD 16 million 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.
