Requested change of security measure/ Constitutional Court issues decision for Meta

2026-04-08 16:17:00, Aktualitet CNA

Requested change of security measure/ Constitutional Court issues decision for

The Constitutional Court has rejected the request of the leader of the PL, Ilir Meta, to abolish the security measure "arrest in prison". The Constitutional Court stated that it cannot consider the method of arrest.

The following decision states that the personal security measure against Meta was imposed for a legitimate purpose and by majority vote the request of the leader of the PL was rejected.

DECISION NOTICE

The Constitutional Court of Albania (Court) on 08.04.2026 considered in a plenary session, based on documents, the case with the applicant Ilir Metaj, with the subject: "Abolition of decisions no. 125, dated 20.10.2024 and no. 130, dated 23.10.2024, of the Special Court of First Instance for Corruption and Organized Crime, no. 59 (87-2024-333), dated 19.11.2024 of the Special Court of Appeal for Corruption and Organized Crime and no. 00-2025-364 (57), dated 27.02.2025 of the Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court, as incompatible with the Constitution of the Republic of Albania.".

The Court, after considering the claims and objections of the parties, in summary, notes the following:

Firstly, the applicant is legitimate ratione personae and ratione temporis for initiating constitutional review of the judicial decisions that have imposed the personal security measure "Arrest in prison" on him.

Secondly, as regards the criterion for exhaustion of legal remedies, the applicant alleged a violation of the right not to be subjected to torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment or treatment, guaranteed by Article 25 of the Constitution and Article 3 of the ECHR, regarding the event of 21.10.2024 regarding the manner of execution by the State Police of the security measure "Arrest in prison", in implementation of decision no. 125, dated 20.10.2024 of the Special Court of First Instance for Corruption and Organized Crime. The court found, on the one hand, that the applicant had filed this claim in the courts of ordinary jurisdiction in the judicial process for the verification of the conditions and criteria for the determination of the personal security measure and security needs, his appeal and recourse and, on the other hand, that the competent state authorities had not acted at that time on their own initiative to address the applicant's claims. However, according to the information provided by the Prosecutor's Office at the Court of First Instance of General Jurisdiction in Tirana, the applicant had filed a report regarding the event with that prosecutor's office in 2025, and criminal proceedings were registered for the criminal offense of "Committing arbitrary acts", provided for by Article 250 of the Criminal Code, for which investigations are ongoing. In the absence of a final decision by the ordinary courts on this issue, the Court, by majority vote, considered that it could not consider it since its control is subsidiary in nature, within the meaning of Article 131, letter "f", of the Constitution.

Thirdly, in terms of the ratione materiae criterion, the Court focused on assessing the applicant’s arguments regarding the infringement of personal liberty in the substantive aspect related to (i) the standard of reasonable doubt based on evidence and (ii) the principle of proportionality, guaranteed by Articles 17, 27 and 28 of the Constitution. The Court, by majority vote, assessed that: in the criminal case against the applicant, there appear to be facts and information that would convince an external observer that the applicant may have committed the criminal offences of which he is suspected, therefore it cannot be concluded that the restriction of his liberty was carried out in the absence of reasonable doubt, within the meaning of Article 27, paragraph 2, letter “c”, of the Constitution and Article 5, point 1, letter “c”, of the ECHR; The personal security measure against the applicant was imposed for a legitimate purpose, guaranteeing the proper conduct of the criminal proceedings against him, it is not disproportionate in the context of the circumstances of the case and the security needs, and is in accordance with the procedural rules of the CPC for its imposition.

At the conclusion of the consideration of this case, the Court decided, by majority vote:

The collapse of the demand.

The final decision will be announced with reasons within the legal deadlines provided for by Law No. 8577, dated 10.02.2000 “On the Organization and Functioning of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Albania”, as amended by the Regulation on Judicial Procedures of the Constitutional Court.

The leader of the PL, Ilir Meta, has been in prison since October 21, 2024, where he and his ex-wife, Monika Kryemadhi, are accused of passive corruption, money laundering and failure to declare assets. Pirro Xhixho is accused of passive corruption of high-ranking officials committed in collaboration. While Fatime Kryemadhi is accused of money laundering, together with Ema Çoku. /CNA