Tougher penal code for family violence

TIRANA, Feb. 15 – The Albanian parliament is expected to pass a new law that will be tougher in punishing family violence by imposing up to five years imprisonment.
The parliamentary legal commission is debating some amendments in the civil and penal codes and family violence is expected to cover a significant place there, likely due to the recent increase of its cases around the country.
Until now the maximum sentence has been six months imprisonment.
Albania is trying to approximate its laws with those of the European Union in which it aims to join one day and is trying to copy many parts of its legislation.
The local media has reported a significant increase of women suffering from their violent husbands and often being too afraid to divorce them. That fear is linked with the local tradition, the respect of the created families but also with fears from their families.