Albania High Court Annuls Lustration Law

Tirana

Critics said that the law was unconstitutional because it allowed a special commission to fire judges and prosecutors who served during the former communist regime without due process in the judicial system.

The commission did not need to prove the officials were guilty of any crime, and the opposition said that this allowed the government to fire prosecutors investigating high-profile corruption cases.

If put into force the law could have wiped out half of Albania’s supreme court and constitutional court, throwing the justice system into crisis.

The Council of Europe also expressed concern with the law, arguing that it raised serious human rights questions.

“I have some concerns that the lustration law adopted by the Albanian Parliament does not comply with Council of Europe standards of democracy, human rights and the rule of law,” General Secretary Terry Davis said in a statement.

An analysis of the law by Council of Europe experts revealed several issues to be reconsidered, including the very broad reach of the law in terms of the categories of officials affected, the fact that it includes people currently in office, the fairness and proportionality of the lustration proceedings, the severity of the sanctions foreseen and the fact that there is no time limit on the law.

Prime Minister Sali Berisha, who called the bill “a historic victory against political crime” when it was adopted in parliament, has brushed off the criticism. He argues that the court is not competent to review the law because some of its judges served on the bench during the communist regime.

"Every lustration law has its critics, but I respect the moral standard of the law," he said, responding to the Council of Europe statement.

Berisha has accused the constitutional court of having a conflict of interest with the law and said that it was thus not competent to deliver a judgment on it.