Friday, August 17, 2012

Supreme Court of Albania

The Supreme Court of Albania  is the highest court of Albania and is the final court of appeal in the Albanian justice system. The Supreme Court of Albania is composed of fourteen judges: the Chief Justice of Albania and thirteen Judges.


Background

Supreme Court, based in Tirana, is the highest judicial power in the Republic of Albania. Its main mission is to review, upon request of the parties, the decisions of the courts of lower instances.

History

The period 1913-1920 marks the first steps towards the creation of the institutions of the new Albanian state. The Assembly of Vlora and the Government of Ismail Qemali took measures about the re-organization of justice in the new independent state. With the “Kanuni i Zhurise” (Canon of Jury), approved in 1913, was predicted the creation of “Court of Dictation” and also the courts of first instance of Sub-prefectures, which were competent on judging the civil cases and offences, and also was created the court with a jury, where representatives of the people judged the penal cases. This system, that was applied in a case of Elbasan, did not give the expected results, as a result it was cancelled by a decree, date 4 June 1914, when was put in application the law about the courts of justice in Albania, in base of which the Initial, Appeal and “Dictation” courts were created. Also, by decree date 4 June 1914, were made some small changes in the organization of justice of 1913.
Period 1920-1939
During the years 1920-1939 the main problems in the justice field, that represented a great importance to our state, were the legal reform and the re-organization of the judicial institutions and the qualification of their staff. Independently of the fact that the first steps were done with “Kanuni i Zhurise” in the years 20 started to be crystallized better the organization and the functioning of the judicial system.
Until 1925 the process in the civil and penal cases was managed by:
The Courts of Peace
The 1st level Courts, which were divided in Initial courts and Collegial Courts. The Court of Dictation, ( this was the nomination of the Supreme Court) which was divided in Civil Chamber and Penal Chamber The Courts of Peace were organized in every sub-prefecture’s center and in base of such organization were divided in Courts of Peace of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd level. The Courts of Peace and the Initial Court were constituted by one judge and the Collegial Courts were constituted by one judge (the Initial Judge) and two Members. Every branch and Court of Dictation was composed by the Chairman, four Members and one Assistant-member. By decree-law on the organization of the courts of justice, date 2 May 1925, the Courts of Justice were organized in:
First level Courts
Appeal Courts
Dictation Courts (Supreme Court), with its center in the capital. The Dictation Court was still organized in two Chambers:
The Civil cases Chamber;
The Penal cases Chamber.
One Chairman, four Members, one Assistant-member, one Chief secretary and the necessary number of secretaries constituted every Chamber of the Dictation Court clerks and servants. Near to the this court were situated one Chief prosecutor, one Assistant Chief prosecutor, one secretary, one keeper of records-archivist and one servant. Each of the Chairmen of the Dictation Court presided his Chamber, but in case of the general meeting, the position of Chairman belonged to the Chairman of the Civil Chamber. During the period 1920-1940, the Dictation Court is known for its decisions of a high professional level, in a regular trial process. In the decisions of the Dictation Courts can be noticed the high quality and the scientific and convincing argument. General characteristic of the judicial practice was that the judges made efforts to protect the courts independence in distributing justice. In its decisions, the Dictation Court has showed its honesty and impartiality.
Communist Period (1944-1990)
The law for judicial organization of 1951 divides the Supreme Court into juridical colleges:
Penal college
Civil college
Military college
Disciplinary college.
Every College judged its own cases of material competence with a panel composed by the Chairman, one member of the Supreme Court and two assistants.
Interesting is the fact that the Disciplinary college used to deal with disciplinary records of popular courts, chairman and members of military courts, members of Supreme Court with a jury made of 1 Chairman or the vice chairman and 2 members of Supreme Court appointed by the Chairman. Supreme Court judged in its plenum composed of the chairman, vice chairman and all the members of the Supreme Court. The directions if the Plenum of the Supreme Court like the whole judicial thought were directed by the policy and the ideology of the communists regime. Especially, this influence has affected seriously the penal aspect, with wide interpretations on Penal Code. The generalizations of the judicial practice made by the Supreme Court have served to orientate the lower level courts so they can judge cases according the political imperatives, the ideology and that time legislation of a dictatorial state. Also the Plenum of the Supreme Court have issued directions in civil, familiar, heredity, labor and procedural matters.
Post Communist time (1992)
The collapse and fall of totalitarian communist system brought great necessary changes in all fields of life and an adoption of contemporary judicial systems. Important changes were needed also in the area of Justice so an independent judicial system could be applied in for a justice which will be focused on the principles of legacy and equality of people in front of the law based on full respect of justice.
With law 7491 dated 29.04.2001 “About the main constitutional dispositions, People’s Assembly decided that the Court of Cassation, Courts of Appeal, Courts of first instance and Military courts would compose the judicial system in Albania. As we see the name of Supreme Court has changed into Court of Cassation, which is the highest judicial authority. According to this law People’s assembly upon President’s proposal elects Chief Justice and his vice.
Judges are elected by People’s Assembly once in 7 years and reserve the right to be reelected.
Court of Cassation cannot deal with any matters of first instance, whereas regarding matters of second instance only when provided by law.
Today, the Supreme Court of the Republic of Albania function based on law nr. 8588, dt. 15/3/2000: “On the organization and functioning of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Albania”.
It is organized in a Civil and Penal panel and also in Joint Panels which judge cases defined by law. On the conditions of the new democratic system towards a democratic and united Europe the Supreme Court of the Republic of Albania continues its efforts for the application of the principles of the state of law.

The Kanun and the Early Constitutional Laws

Albanians have an old tradition for law and regulations. Among the old laws is the Kanun (Canon), a sort of constitution respected by majority of Albanians throughout centuries. The Code of Lekë Dukagjini, which according to some writings was codified in the 15th century, is distinguished among several Kanuns. Kanun has provided some level of self-government for the Albanians under foreign rule and thereby democracy has been exercised. According to the Kanun, important decisions are made by Conventions of the Elderly. During the National Renaissance of the 19th century, Albanians founded the League of Prizren and in the meantime a provisional government for the Albanian-populated districts of the Ottoman Empire. The New Kanun was adopted as a program and statute for the governing bodies. This is often regarded as the beginning of the modern Albanian politics and diplomacy. In 1913, Albania was recognized as an independent country, yet the European powers decided for a constitutional monarchy headed by a European monarch William of Albania. The Constitution adopted for this period did not have much effect partially due to the rebellions against the foreign king and partially due to World War I. The 1913 borders arranged by European powers left more than half of the Albanian-populated territories outside Albania’s borders. However, right after World War I, Albania was in danger of being re-partitioned between Balkan countries and Italy. In opposition to this, Albanian leaders held Congress of Lushnjë at which they decided to defend the sovereignty of their country and fight against any foreign invasions. An interim constitution (officially known as Statute) sanctioning the monarchy was also passed. During the 1920s Albania experienced political instability and rapid succession of governments. In 1924 a revolutionary group took over by force, while six months later Ahmet Zogu crushed the revolution. In 1925 an Albanian Republic was declared under a constitution “based on the French model of the Third Republic” (IPLS). The Republic had a bicameral legislature (Chamber of Deputies and Senate) that elected a President, who was head of state and of government (Council of Ministers) for a seven-year term. Three years later, in 1928, Albania was proclaimed a democratic and parliamentary kingdom. The legislative organ consisted of one chamber, while the executive power belonged the head of state, the King, and the cabinet composed of the Prime Minister and other ministers. With the Italian fascists invading Albania in 1939, this Constitution was abolished. Fascist collaborators in Albania offered the throne to Victor Emmanuel III, King of Italy, an act that heavily violated the Constitution of the Albanian Kingdom. The Quisling government established by the Italians passed a new Constitution in 1939.

Constitution of Albania

The current Constitution of Albania was adopted on 28 November 1998. It defines Albania as a parliamentary republic. According to the current Constitution, the Republic of Albania has a unicameral legislature composed of 140 deputies, who elect the head of state, the President of Albania, and the Council of Ministers that consists of the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and Ministers. The 1998 Constitution is divided into 18 parts which sanction a parliamentary democracy, people’s sovereignty and fundamental rights of the citizens as well as other important points. The Constitution is said to have fulfilled all the requirements for a modern European constitution.[1] Due to political instability, Albania has had many constitutions during its short history as an independent country. Albania was initially constituted as a monarchy in 1913, briefly a republic in the 1920s, then it returned to a democratic monarchy in 1928. It later became a socialist republic until the restoration of capitalism in the 1990s.

My father is a practicing criminal law attorney in the Seattle area...

I have gained this from philosophy: that I do without being commanded what others do only from fear of the law.

What is tolerance? It is the consequence of humanity....

...We are all formed of frailty and error; let us pardon reciprocally each other's folly - that is the first law of nature.

Taste cannot be controlled by law.

If you have ten thousand regulations you destroy all respect for the law.

Nothing is more destructive of respect for the government and the law of the land than passing laws which cannot be enforced...


International law


International law can refer to three things: public international law, private international law or conflict of laws and the law of supranational organisations.
Public international law concerns relationships between sovereign nations. The sources for public international law development are custom, practice and treaties between sovereign nations, such as the Geneva Conventions. Public international law can be formed by international organisations, such as the United Nations (which was established after the failure of the League of Nations to prevent the Second World War),[8] the International Labour Organisation, the World Trade Organisation, or the International Monetary Fund. Public international law has a special status as law because there is no international police force, and courts (e.g. the International Court of Justice as the primary UN judicial organ) lack the capacity to penalise disobedience.[9] However, a few bodies, such as the WTO, have effective systems of binding arbitration and dispute resolution backed up by trade sanctions.
Conflict of laws (or "private international law" in civil law countries) concerns which jurisdiction a legal dispute between private parties should be heard in and which jurisdiction's law should be applied. Today, businesses are increasingly capable of shifting capital and labour supply chains across borders, as well as trading with overseas businesses, making the question of which country has jurisdiction even more pressing. Increasing numbers of businesses opt for commercial arbitration under the New York Convention 1958.
European Union law is the first and, so far, only example of a internationally accepted legal system other than the UN and the World Trade Organisation. Given the trend of increasing global economic integration, many regional agreements—especially the Union of South American Nations—are on track to follow the same model. In the EU, sovereign nations have gathered their authority in a system of courts and political institutions. These institutions are allowed the ability to enforce legal norms both against or for member states and citizens in a manner which is not possible through public international law. As the European Court of Justice said in the 1960s, European Union law constitutes "a new legal order of international law" for the mutual social and economic benefit of the member states.
by wikipedia

USAID, 4th Judicial Reform Index for Albania Released


USAID, 4th Judicial Reform Index for Albania Released
Tirana, April 10, 2009    The American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative (ABA ROLI), with support from the U.S. Mission through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), released today the 4TH Judicial Reform Index for Albania, at an event at the Magistrates School in Tirana.
“A strong judiciary is the key to Albania’s long-term success,” said USAID’s Mission Director to Albania, Roberta Mahoney in remarks at the ceremony. “The United States Government is firmly committed to the development of an effective, impartial and democratic judicial system in Albania.” 
Mahoney urged legal professionals to use this assessment to build a transparent and fair judicial system comprised of professionals guided by principles of integrity and independence. She also underscored the importance of justice sector reforms to foreign direct investments and reforms in Albania’s public administration.
The Judicial Reform Index (JRI) is an assessment tool implemented by ABA ROLI in order to assess a cross-section of factors important to judicial reform in emerging democracies. The JRI is designed to help international organizations, donors, and local partners to better target judicial reform programs by creating a quantifiable measure of their impact. It also functions as a tool to refine program implementation and monitor progress towards establishing an accountable, effective, and independent judiciary in the country.
The JRI for Albania examines Albania’s judiciary through a prism of thirty factors reflecting the most fundamental characteristics of successful judicial systems.  The JRI explores such issues as judicial education, and qualifications and appointment procedures of judges; independence and transparency of judicial decisions and judicial powers; budgetary considerations and issues of compensation; maintenance of trial records; adequacy of court staff and facilities; access to laws and other legal information; and ethics; discipline; and self-government.  ABA ROLI previously implemented JRIs for Albania in 2001, 2004, and 2006.
© 

CNN: World's top destinations for 2011

December 28, 2010 | By A. Pawlowski
CNN Where on Earth will you find yourself in 2011?
Here's wishing it's somewhere unforgettable -- and the time to plan your journey is now, as the New Year brings the customary yearning for a fresh start and the promise of new people and places. To set your itinerary in motion, we sought out recommendations from three travel experts: Robert Reid, U.S. travel editor for Lonely Planet; Pauline Frommer, creator of Pauline Frommer's guidebooks; and Martin Rapp, senior vice president of leisure sales at Altour. 
Here are nine of their top destinations for 2011:

1. New York

2. New Zealand

3. Peruvian Amazon

4. Barcelona, Spain

5. Norway
6. Albania 
The top pick on Lonely Planet's list of top 10 countries for 2011 may be a surprise for many people, but Albania gives travelers a taste of the Mediterranean without the crowds and the prices, Reid said. The real rising destination is Gjirokastra, a city whose historic center is a UNESCO World Heritage site, he added. "It's this cobbled town with Ottoman-era mansions," Reid said. "It's a very atmospheric place that has a lot of history." With picturesque beaches, good food and a number of heritage sites, Albania won't be off the beaten track for much longer, Lonely Planet says in its review. 
7. Japan

8. Guatemala
9. Bulgaria
http://juridiksi.e-monsite.com/blog/news-in-english/cnn-world-s-top-destinations-for-2011.html

Legal Science


Legal Science is one of the social sciences which deals with the institutions andprinciples that particular societies have developed:
- for defining the claims and liabilities of a person against one another in various circumstances, and
- for peacefully resolving disputes and controversies in accordance with principles accepted as fair and right in the particular community at a given time.
-> wiki... :http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Law

Welcome

Welcome to our website!