Details

Seminar on reopening criminal proceedings in Albania

Published: June 18, 2019
Anne Meier-Göring, Presiding Judge at the main criminal division for juvenile cases at the Regional Court of Hamburg; Spiro Spiro and Albana Boksi, lecturers at the School of Magistrates (on the panel, from left to right)
Anne Meier-Göring, Presiding Judge at the main criminal division for juvenile cases at the Regional Court of Hamburg; Spiro Spiro and Albana Boksi, lecturers at the School of Magistrates (on the panel, from left to right)
Albania

The IRZ organised a seminar on 6 and 7 June 2019 in partnership with the Albanian School of Magistrates. The seminar focussed on reopening criminal proceedings in view of the legislation of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and the 2017 revision of the Albanian code of criminal procedure.

Spiro Spiro and Albana Boksi, lecturers from the School of Magistrates, opened the event by explaining the subject of reopening criminal proceedings to the 25 or so participating judges and public prosecutors and presenting the changes to the Albanian code of criminal procedure and two pending Albanian cases brought before the ECtHR. They then went on to report on the submission of new evidence for the case law of the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court.

Anne Meier-Göring, an IRZ expert and Presiding Judge at the main criminal division for juvenile cases at the Regional Court of Hamburg, put forward the German point of view at various points during the seminar. She closed the first day with a lecture on the requirements of a proper trial in accordance with Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights, the case law of the ECtHR and trials in absentia as a reason for breaches of the Article in question. She also explained the German Code of Criminal Procedure with respect to the obligations of the accused to attend the main trial.

On the second day, after the Albanian speakers had addressed the implementation of decisions taken by the ECtHR as a reason for reopening proceedings that have already been concluded by law, Anne Meier-Göring spoke about the implementation of decisions taken by the ECtHR on violations of the Convention due to reopening proceedings. She then went on to present the German system for retrials and drew a comparison with the Albanian provisions in this respect.

The participants were given plenty of opportunities to present their own cases and discuss these with the speakers before Spiro Spiro and Albana Boksi closed the seminar with a lecture on the litigation status of the accused, the Albanian system for retrials, the rulings of national courts and problems relating to the Constitution.