Opposition invited to approve Administrative Court bill

TIRANA, June 21 – Prime Minister Sali Berisha has invited the opposition to propose its amendments to the law on the Administrative Court and approve the bill which has been delayed for more than one year because of the ongoing political deadlock.
Speaking at a meeting with the majority Democratic Party parliamentary group, Berisha said the approval of the law, which requires a qualified majority of 84 votes, would prevent government arbitrariness on Albanian businesses.
Berisha said that government’s single condition to the compromise on the bill was to prevent political appointments in the administrative courts system, saying that entries should only be from the magistrates’ school.
“In this very important reform, deputies vote to limit the government arbitrariness, central or local, upon businesses and I think this is a very major legal and moral obligation both for government and the opposition,” said Berisha.
Representatives of Albania’s business community have suggested they would like see changes made to the Administrative Courts draft law, which has been waiting for months to be passed by parliament.
Konfindustria, an association made up mainly of Albanian manufacturers, wants the new bill to include comments from the opposition and other experts in order to increase the effectiveness of the new court system.
Failure to establish the administrative court is putting millions of dollars at risk.
Albania has benefited about 28 million euros in funding from the Millennium Challenge Threshold Program, but the continuation of projects funded by this program is now in serious jeopardy due to the absence of the Administrative Courts law from Albania’s legislation.
The never-ending saga the Administrative Courts bill has gone through due to Albania’s political stalemate is bringing serious consequences.
“In the coming months, Albania will have to show that it has managed to establish the necessary infrastructure and to demonstrate whether it is able to qualify for funding under another program as assistance by the U.S. government. But it seems that Albania has little chance to benefit again because the current program has not completed one of the most important projects — the Administrative Courts,” said USAID’s head in Tirana, Joseph Williams, who was speaking at a Business Forum with sustaining members of the American Chamber of Commerce.
The administrative courts, which make it easier for companies to solve disputes with the government when it comes to taxes and other issues, were supposed to be approved through a law before the summer elections.