Reply to Recommendation 1312 (1997) - Honouring of obligations and commitments by Albania

Doc. 8139

15 June 1998

Honouring of obligations and commitments by

Albania

Reply to Recommendation 1312 (1997)

from the Committee of Ministers

adopted on 4 June 1998 at the 634^th meeting of the Ministers’ Deputies

Recommendation 1312 (1997) on honouring of obligations and commitments by Albania asks the Committee of Ministers to help Albania under five items. The following reply to the Parliamentary Assembly refers to these, although the co-operation and assistance programme with Albania also covers other fields.

Paragraph 1:

In October 1997 the Council of Europe Secretariat prepared a new priority programme for co-operation with Albania in contact with the Albanian Government and the Commission of the European Communities.

As a result the draft for a Third Joint Programme between the Council of Europe and the European Commission was transmitted to the European Commission in February 1998. Its signature is forthcoming. This Programme will focus on legal system reform and implies a considerable stepping-up of co-operation with Albania in this field.

Activities have already been implemented in the following fields: reform of the law on the organisation of justice, reorganising the Ministry of Justice and the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the action plan for the reform of the prison system. Furthermore a Council of Europe expert has been nominated as legal adviser to the Minister of Public Order.

A high-level mission of the Committee of Ministers (Chairman of the Ministers’ Deputies and Chairman of the Rapporteur Group for Democratic Stability (GR-EDS)) visited Tirana on 18-20 January 1998; this provided further orientation for co-operation and assistance activities. On 6 February 1998, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Germany, Mr Klaus Kinkel, also visited Albania in his capacity as Chairman of the Committee of Ministers.

The increased assistance to Albania is now supported by an enlargement of the Council of Europe Tirana Office.

Close co-operation between the OSCE Presence in Albania and the Council of Europe is being developed inter alia in the field of the Judiciary (including the Law on the Organisation of Justice).

Paragraph 2:

The Albanian School of Magistrates, for the preparation of which the Council of Europe has given decisive support, was inaugurated on 9 October 1997. A common Plan of Action was adopted in November 1997, forming the basis for further support to the School as a sizeable element of the Third Joint Programme between the Council of Europe and the European Commission.

In liaison with the WEU Multinational Advisory Police Element (MAPE), the Council of Europe continues to assist with the training of the Albanian police in the fields of Human Rights and Law.

Paragraph 3:

The Third Joint Programme includes several forms of assistance to the Albanian Bar Association, mainly through legal expertise and training.

Paragraph 4:

The Council of Europe closely follows developments in the field of local government, especially with a view to an Albanian ratification of the European Charter for Local Self-Government. Seminars and training courses relating to local governance in accordance with European norms and standards are included in the LODE Programme 1998. The visit of the President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities in Europe to Albania on 4-6 May 1998 helped to identify priority areas for future co-operation.

Ad 5:

The Commission for Democracy through Law (the Venice Commission) has established Task Force Albania for the purpose of preparing the expertise on constitutional questions submitted to the Commission by the Albanian authorities. A representative of the Venice Commission is present in Tirana since October 1997 with a view to maintaining a liaison between the Albanian Constitutional Commission and the Venice Commission. He will also assist the Albanian authorities with the development of the drafting process. An expertise on the amendments on the “law on the principal constitutional provisions” has been adopted on 15 April 1998. Parts of the draft Constitution examined by the Albanian Constitutional Commission have been submitted for expertise to the Venice Commission.