Change of culture needed for constitutional amendments lifting immunity to be fully effective.
TIRANA TIMES EDITORIAL
TIRANA, Sep. 20 – Few would argue against the benefits of having members of parliament and other top officials stripped of their immunity from prosecution. It will help fight corruption and help make these elected and appointed leaders more accountable for their actions while in office.
But will constitutional changes passed this week truly make a difference in practice? Not unless there is culture shift in this country.
According to studies conducted by the Albanian Institute for International Studies politicians consistently rank as people perceived to stand above the law. Analysts note removing immunity will work well for those trying to use elected or appointed office to hide from the reach of prosecutors. And it is particularly important for fighting corruption. But again, this only stands true if prosecutors actually do their job in a fully fair and unbiased justice system – something Albania still has to work toward.
Thanks to the lifting of immunities, expectations may be high, however for those more realistic, it is difficult to believe the law will lead to fundamental changes in the pervasive culture of impunity that that exists in Albania, particularly among the politicians.
Albanian experience has shown in these twenty years that politicians are not equal to the rest of the population before the law. And it’s not because they enjoyed official immunity. Even when politicians have not had immunity, or it has been legally lifted – the justice system has not been able to act fully in the presence of clear evidence.
While the constitutional changes to lift immunity were sold as a way to bring Albania closer to the European Union, the adoption of the law by consensus will likely have little to do with whether Albania is actually closer to EU standards. Consensus is not the goal in itself, as Albania has a series of of other laws that are very well written to fit the EU framework – and which are never properly implemented as they would in top EU countries.
There are very few cases in which prosecutors and officials have acted to charge officials in the past, regardless of whether they had to go and formally ask for an official process of lifting immunity. Also, in addition to the official immunity, there is a certain informal immunity – whether based in written law or now. That’s why politicians and judges will continue to enjoy de-facto immunity – as will other groups that had never legally had it, such as high-level journalists.
The true immunity lifting comes through repeated direct action. The case of Croatia comes to mind — a country where officials as high as the prime minister have been charged in corruption cases – and that gave clear examples to make politicians equal under the law, removing that de-facto immunity – which is what ultimately brought that country closer to the European Union.
In short, in Albania, politicians continue to have immunity through power, even if it’s no longer set in law. The constitutional changes passed this week are a good start, but unless the culture of impunity and superiority changes, there will be little success in fighting corruption and moving the EU bid forward.
