The delegation from the Supreme Court of the Republic of Albania on a visit to the Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig.
The delegation from the Supreme Court of the Republic of Albania on a visit to the Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig.
Albania

A delegation from the Supreme Court of the Republic of Albania attended expert talks in Leipzig and Berlin on 28 and 29 June 2022 at the invitation of the IRZ. At the start of the study visit, the six judges from the Supreme Court were welcomed to the Federal Administrative Court (BVerwG) in Leipzig by Prof. Dr. Ingo Kraft (Presiding Judge at BVerwG) and Mr Martin Steinkühler (Judge at BVerwG).

The subjects of the professional discussions were the role, tasks and responsibilities of the Federal Administrative Court, the administrative court judicial review and the distinction between public and private law. There was also a focus on the issues of approval purposes of appeals, reviews of administrative processes and the significance of oral hearings in German practice.

On the following day the professional exchange on administrative court jurisdiction was continued on the premises of the German Association of Judges in Berlin. Dr. Axel Schreier, judge at the Berlin-Brandenburg Higher Administrative court, gave a presentation on the structure and role of the administrative court jurisdiction in Germany and addressed the subject of the powers of rejection of administrative courts and the specific judicial review of statutes from the point of view of the referring court. During the delegation’s visit to the Constitutional Court of the State of Berlin, the discussions focused on the division of competencies between administrative jurisdiction and constitutional court jurisdiction.

The background to the study visit is the introduction of an independent administrative court jurisdiction in Albania through Act no. 49/2012 “On the Organisation and Functioning of the Administrative Courts and Administrative Disputes” in 2012. The focus of the two-day exchange of expertise and experience was therefore on questions emerging from the establishment of administrative court jurisdiction in Albanian judicial practice and issues which arise from the necessary delimitation of competences, including on administrative court jurisdiction. The study visit therefore provided the opportunity to present parallel questions which exist in German administrative law and to identify common solutions.

The study visit was financed through project support by the Foreign Office on the subject of “Judicial Organisation”. Further expert talks in cooperation with the Supreme Court are planned for 2022.