Constitution of Albania

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The constitution of the Republic of Albania ( Albanian  Kushtetuta e Republikës së Shqipërisë ) has been in force since November 28, 1998 . It is the first democratic constitution in Albania since the 1920s.

Constitutional history

Earlier constitutional laws

When the great powers predestined the German Prince Wilhelm zu Wied as Albanian prince in 1913, fundamental questions about the organization of the state also had to be clarified. In compliance with the requirements of the signatory states to the Florence Protocol , which meant the official recognition of Albanian independence, the so-called organizational statute for Albania was drawn up in Durrës at the beginning of 1914 . This document stated that Albania should be a constitutional monarchy. In addition, some principles on government, police and administration have been included. The organizational statute of 1914 was neither confirmed by parliament, nor was it of practical importance, as the poorly established state of Albania de facto disappeared from the map that same year and was in fact re-established after the First World War .

The first constitutional law was passed in 1920 by the Congress of Lushnja , which was constituted as a provisional national assembly when Albania had to struggle to become a state as well as to recognize its independence after the end of the First World War. The provisional constitution of 1920 went down in history as the statute of Lushnja after the meeting place of this meeting .

During the 1920s, Albania experienced a period of political instability with rapidly changing governments unable to prevail against rival tribal leaders and other powerful interest groups. Prime Minister Fan Noli drafted a democratic order for the country in 1924, but failed to bring about a constitution during his short term in office, as his government was overthrown by Ahmet Zogu's coup after just six months. With the help of a parliament devoted to him, Zogu created a presidential constitution based on the American model: with a bicameral system and a state president who had very far-reaching powers. As such, Zogu ruled, confirmed by the 1925 elections increasingly authoritarian. In 1928 Zogu was proclaimed king and the parliament passed the appropriate constitution, which formally made Albania a constitutional monarchy, the Kingdom of Albania . The Albanians do not understand what a democracy and a president are, said Zogu, explaining the conversion of the country into a monarchy.

For the political reality and the actual balance of power in Albania, constitutional laws from 1928 until the political change in 1991 were meaningless. First, Zogu ruled based on old clan structures, then the Italian and German occupations (1939–1944) followed, and finally the communists Enver Hoxhas took power and established a Stalinist regime.

On December 2, 1945, the communists held a controlled election to a constituent assembly, which at the beginning of the following year passed the so-called people's democratic constitution. This provided for a parliament with the Kuvendi popullor (German popular assembly), but the main decisions were made by the dictator Enver Hoxha and the bodies of the Partia e Punës e Shqipërisë . All non-communist parties were banned. In the new constitution of 1976, which was in force until 1991, Albania was declared a People's Socialist Republic . After the end of the communist dictatorship, Albania was only able to establish a new democratic legal order with great difficulty.

Creation of the post-communist constitution

Due to the political division of the country into two almost equally strong warring camps ( democrats and socialists ), it was not possible to give the country a new democratic constitution after the anti-communist revolution in winter 1990/91. In 1991 only an incomplete constitutional law was passed, which only regulated that Albania should henceforth be a parliamentary democracy . However, many articles of the old socialist constitution of 1976 remained valid. After the first pluralistic elections in March 1991, which the Partia Socialiste won as the successor to the old communist state party, the parliament passed an interim constitution on April 29, 1991, the regulations of which were not precise enough and therefore sometimes misleading. In addition, this constitution was passed by a parliament whose election was controversial and which hardly took into account the wishes of the democratic opposition.

After the new elections in 1992, the Democrats under Sali Berisha came to power. In the spring of 1993 a law on fundamental freedoms and human rights was passed, which implemented the UN human rights conventions and the provisions of the CSCE Final Act into law. In the meantime, the political system of Albania had developed into a presidential republic on the basis of the old constitution and the various transitional laws, to which the democratic parliamentary majority had contributed some more , without any concise legal regulations in place. A draft constitution by Sali Berisha, which was supposed to create a state order based on the American model, was not adopted by the people in autumn 1994.

After nationwide unrest in the winter of 1996/97, the government had to resign. A little later, the opposition socialists won the early parliamentary elections on June 29, 1997. With the help of international experts, a commission elected by parliament worked out the draft of a new constitution. This was passed in parliament on August 21, 1998, adopted by a referendum on November 22 of the same year, and entered into force on November 28, 1998 by decree of the President. The result of the referendum was controversial. With a turnout of 50.57%, 93% yes-votes were counted. The low turnout resulted from the opposition Democrats' call for a boycott. Therefore mainly supporters of the socialists and some smaller parties who had recommended the adoption of the constitution took part. This also explains the high level of approval.

Content of the constitution

The Albanian constitution is modeled on the Italian constitution and the German Basic Law . In this respect, it means turning away from the presidential system, which both major political camps had favored until the crisis of 1997.

According to the preamble , the constitution is divided into 18 sections with a total of 183 articles.

Basic principles and human rights

In the first section (basic principles), Albania is defined as a parliamentary republic based on the principle of popular sovereignty and as a constitutional state with separation of powers . The republic is further characterized as following secular and market economy principles. Article 8 in the Basic Principles chapter is noteworthy. It obliges the state to protect the national rights of those Albanians who live outside the state's borders. This clause applies to the majority of the Albanian people living in Kosovo and Macedonia, which has raised concerns that the republic might interfere in the affairs of other states. However, Article 8 has not yet had any concrete consequences and comparable sentences can also be found in the constitutions of other Balkan states and Hungary.

The second section is devoted to human rights and the political and social rights of citizens. The catalog of rights corresponds to what is common in most European democracies. The part of social rights is quite extensive, but it is precisely in this area that the difference between entitlement and reality is great.

Articles 60–63 define the role and rights of the ombudsman as a defender of individual rights.

State organization

The Sections 3-5 define choice, rights, obligations and responsibilities of the supreme state organs: parliament , president and government .
The sole legislature is the parliament ( Kuvendi i Shqipërisë ), which also elects the president. Its role is stronger than that of the German Federal President. The Albanian head of state is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces , chairman of the judicial council and he appoints the constitutional judges, the judges at the Supreme Court and the attorney general. The President also has the right to participate in the formation of a government; but he is bound by the proposal of the parliamentary majority. Once elected, he cannot be deposed, but under certain circumstances (breach of the constitution, crimes or incapacity) he can be removed from office by a two-thirds majority in parliament. The Prime Minister and his government are only responsible to Parliament.

Section 6 basically regulates the organization of the local administration, which is made up of municipalities and these superordinate regions (alb. Qarqe ) . Local autonomy is introduced for Albania for the first time in the 1998 constitution, but it is not very far-reaching, but is regulated by individual laws. The Qark councils and local authorities are overseen by a prefect appointed by the government.

In the sections 7-10 provisions for judicial contain. Section 8 is devoted to the constitutional court , which was organized along the lines of the German Federal Constitutional Court .

Section 11 sets out the rules for referendums . The provisions on the Central Election Commission in Section 12 are important for Albania , as the implementation of elections has always given rise to bitter disputes between the political parties. Together with the corresponding accompanying laws, the relevant Articles 153 and 154 now created more legal certainty.

Sections 13 and 14 deal with state finances and their control by an audit office. This is followed by a section on the military and concluding with provisions on the imposition of a state of emergency in times of war and peace and on the conditions under which the constitution can be revised.

See also

Web links

Constitutional texts

Other links