A working document and the “fight” for a new Criminal Code in Albania

2025-07-31 20:35:00, Editorial CNA

A group of experts, without any doubt the best in the country, presented to the public a few days ago a draft for the new Criminal Code . Is a new Criminal Code necessary in Albania? If you ask all the lawyers, the answer is in unison: yes . Albania has an old code, almost from the time of the Soviet Union, patched, sewn and torn, for better or worse... and has already opened the chapters of negotiations with the European Union. Without a doubt, there must be a new Criminal Code, which is of EU standards.

The draft of the new Criminal Code is presented/Manja: Solid basis to begin the consultation
July 25, 10:33

A group of experts who in 2019, when the Minister of Justice was Etilda Gjonaj, started discussing it. In 2023, everything was done with the official signature of the Minister of Justice, Ulsi Manja. So these groups of experts are working on a new Criminal Code and in September of last year, 2024, they completed their work. The government already has a draft in front of it.

Two drafts: one for Albania and one for laziness!
July 30, 15:55

The Minister of Justice, together with the drafters, but also the heads of justice institutions, came out and presented it to the public.

What happened?

They simply took pieces of this code, threw them on the market and a “storm in a teacup” has arisen . As if this draft code is the new Criminal Code that will go to Parliament and be over. In fact, this is a lie. Yesterday we had a Code with about 350 articles, today we have a new Code with about 900 articles, which reflects many of the recommendations given by the European Union and since it was prepared by a group of experts, it will now be discussed with interest groups, with lawyers, with lawyers, with judges, with prosecutors, who will give their opinions. Not by going to press conferences and talking “in passing” like lazy, unread people who haven’t even had time, maybe they don’t even have the draft on the table, but they come out and talk.

When a lawyer comes out who does his duty, defends the crime etc. and disputes it, he has his right . Although those in the field of law are not stupid, they know very well that this is not a new Criminal Code that Parliament should approve, but it is a draft, a working document . But who do you tell?! Can lawyers make mistakes and play with their interests? Without any discussion.

E çuditshme është si ka kritikë Sokol Sadushi?! Ndoshta duhet ta kishin thirrur mikun e Mero Bazes, që të mbante dhe ai qëndrim për Kodin Penal, por harron zotëria që është kryetar i Gjykatës së Lartë. Do ta marrë draft-kodin zyrtarisht dhe do të japë mendimet e tij si institucion. Në qoftë se ka një njeri që duhet ta mbështeste i pari hartimin e një kodi të ri duhet të jetë ai, pikërisht kryetari i Gjykatës së Lartë, ky institucion është një nga shtyllat e rëndësishme të drejtësisë shqiptare. Por kur Sokol Sadushi doli nga dera e drejtësisë dhe hyri nga dritarja, pa bërë veting dhe shkon kryetar i Gjykatës së Lartë çfarë mund të presësh?!

Sokol Sadushi zgjidhet kryetar i Gjykatës së Lartë
17 Tetor, 13:07

Pikëpyetjet që ngrejnë qëndrimet e drejtuesve të institucioneve

Nuk është çudi kur flet Maks Haxhia, se nuk ka kohë ta lexojë draft-kodin se ka dhe halle të tjera, por habi e madhe është Olsian Çela, Prokurori i Përgjithshëm. Del dhe i fut një tufë me fjalë, a thua se kishte gjetur një grup armiqësor brenda prokurorisë që po e sabotonte detyrën e tij dhe shtetin shqiptar. Kur në fakt ai ka pasur përfaqësuesit e tij në hartimin e këtij dokumenti pune a draft-kodi, le ta quajnë siç u pëlqen, por nuk është një Kod i ri Penal.

Maks Haxhia hidhet në sulm/ Kundërshton draftin për Kodin Penal
30 Korrik, 13:15

Nuk është kodi që do të ketë Shqipëria nesër, sepse do kalojë në shumë filtra, jo vetëm në tryeza ku do shkojnë pikërisht edhe këta krerë institucionsh që nuk sillen institucionalisht, por sillen si të jenë në foltoret e konferencave të shtypit të ndonjë partie. Ky është problemi. Se do flasin avokatë, do flasin juristë, profesorë, por kur dalin përfaqësuesit e institucioneve dhe këpusin të tilla budallallëqe apo mbajnë të tilla qëndrime kjo ngre shumë pikëpyetje.

Kryeprokurori "kundër" Kodit të ri Penal/ Çela: Tendencë represive që rrit potencialin e kriminalizimit
29 Korrik, 17:53

Pse e kontestojnë kodin avokatët dhe mediat?!

Ngre pikëpyetje se kush i stimulon nga poshtë, jo vetëm këta drejtues institucionesh, por dhe të tjerë, media apo avokatë. Mirë avokatët kanë interesa të caktuara të lidhura me çështje të caktuara apo media që marrin shpatën për ta kryqëzuar kodin, për ta fshirë. Ndërkohë që ka 900 faqe dhe kanë gjetur 5 probleme, 10 apo 30, ç’rëndësi ka.

Krerët e institucioneve përpara se të flasin duhet ta lexojnë dhe të dalin të mbajnë qëndrim në tryezat e diskutimeve me alternativa konkrete, me propozime, si është standardi i BE, si përputhen këto me realitetin e BE, me realitetin shqiptar. Sepse pikërisht ka të bëjë me vendin tonë dhe me rrugën që kemi për të shkuar drejt Europës.

They "whip" the media, write nonsense, take what is in the lines out of context. Moreover, there are also disputed things that are actually rules in the EU that Albanians respect, precisely these lawyers themselves who dispute, or these heads of institutions. Maybe they don't like them in Albania, that doesn't matter much. Another phase will pass. The holiday season is coming, discussions will begin in September. But the heads of important institutions cannot come out and hold dubious positions . Positions as if they were not heads of justice institutions, but as ordinary lawyers who go and get caught up in "so-and-so" cases.

Duman's position on the draft code

The only one who took a public, "mature" stance as a leader of the institution was Altin Dumani, head of SPAK , who said: we were not part of the drafting of this draft, we are not familiar with the draft. Once it comes to us, we will give our proposals, our objections to the drafting of a new code, which is necessary.

Debate on the Criminal Code/ Dumani gives suggestions: Changes are needed
July 31, 12:03

It is enough for the heads of institutions to have this attitude. They should receive the draft, they should also establish their own groups of experts, although Olsian Çela had his representative and the Supreme Court had lawyers . Because experts are not people taken from the street, they are professors, intellectuals, people with dozens and dozens of years of experience in the Albanian justice system, with their pros and cons.

How should justice institutions react to the draft code?

Olsian Çela and other justice institutions should take a simple stance, by taking that draft, by setting up a group of experts within the institution, looking into the details, by giving the relevant proposals according to what the EU has or according to the circumstances and Albanian reality. By making an appropriate code with the European Union and then waiting for European experts to discuss it with corrections, with the relevant proposals and in the end to have the best possible Criminal Code , which honors Albania and definitely needs one and there is no discussion about this.

What is being discussed is what these people are, the heads of institutions and the media who put a cross in the code for no reason. They simply and only get caught in 3 or 5 points , when most of those who are speaking probably do not even have the draft code in their hands and the maximum they may have read may be 1/10 of it. Therefore, the reactions to what we read about a new code that we need, we all accept, but in fact, this is not what we have in our hands . It is a draft, a working document . When you hear such attitudes, you really say: Forgive me, God, they do not know what they are doing! But when they do it on purpose, they are guilty./ CNA