Albania

Seminar on the Rome II Regulation held in cooperation with the Albanian School of Magistrates

Details
Published: January 9, 2019
Prof. Dr. Gerhard Hohloch together with the speakers from the School of Magistrates, Aida Bushati (left) and Erinda Meli
Prof. Dr. Gerhard Hohloch together with the speakers from the School of Magistrates, Aida Bushati (left) and Erinda Meli
Albania

The IRZ held a seminar on International Private Law on 19 and 20 December 2018 in partnership with the Albanian School of Magistrates. Fifteen judges and public prosecutors attended the seminar in Tirana to learn about the Rome II Regulation (non-contractual obligations).

Following a welcome speech by the Director of the School of Magistrates, Sokol Sadushaj, Aida Bushati described the current situation regarding International Private Law in Albania, which dates back to 1964. IRZ expert Prof. Dr. Gerhard Hohloch, an emeritus professor of International Private Law, amongst other subjects, at the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg, then provided an introduction to the Rome II Regulation, which came into force in 2009, and differentiated this from the other three Rome Regulations.

As the seminar continued, Aida Bushati gave a lecture on claims settlements for accidents in Albania involving foreigners, which was followed by Prof. Dr. Hohloch explaining the ECJ legislation regarding accidents abroad in court trials and Erinda Meli, the second speaker from the School of Magistrates, explaining Albanian practice regarding accidents abroad in court trials.

Together with Aida Bushati, on the second day Prof. Dr. Hohloch looked at claims arising from transnational unauthorised acts (environmental damage, unfair competition etc.). The seminar was rounded off with lectures on “Damage resulting from unjust enrichment and negotiorum gestio (management without authority)” and “Damage resulting from culpa in contrahendo (fault when concluding a contract).”

Further seminars will be held in future to deal with the conflict of law regulations (Rome I, Rome III and Rome IV). In the long term, the IRZ also aims to include the planned Regulations Rome V and Rome VI in the series of seminars.

Seminar on EU consumer rights held in cooperation with the Albanian School of Magistrates

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Published: December 4, 2018
Speakers from the School of Magistrates, Arbena Ahmeti and Fjoralba Caka, with Dr. Oisín Morris, a judge at the local court of Hamburg-Wandsbek (left to right)
Speakers from the School of Magistrates, Arbena Ahmeti and Fjoralba Caka, with Dr. Oisín Morris, a judge at the local court of Hamburg-Wandsbek (left to right)

Albania is getting closer to the European Union and therefore also towards participation in the EU internal market. In this context, the IRZ organised a seminar on EU consumer protection in partnership with the Albanian School of Magistrates. The seminar took place on 26 and 27 November 2018 and was attended by around 20 prospective judges and public prosecutors.

IRZ expert Dr. Oisín Morris, a judge at the local court of Hamburg-Wandsbek, explained that, although consumer rights played only a minor role at the beginning of European integration attempts, since the Maastricht Treaty was signed in 1992 there have been legal provisions for protecting consumer rights when purchasing goods or services from other EU countries and for guaranteeing product safety in general on the internal market.

He then went on to explain the provisions for distance and off-premises contracts and other contracts made as distance and off-premises contracts (Directive 2011/83/EU) and explained the implementation of EU provisions in German law. In conjunction with speakers from the School of Magistrates, comparisons could be drawn between Albanian and German or EU consumer legislation.

The speakers Fjoralba Caka, Ardjana Shehi and Arbena Ahmeti also presented current Albanian cases and introduced the following topics:

  • Unfair business-to-consumer commercial practices in the internal market (Directive 2005/29/EC),
  • Alternative dispute resolution for consumer disputes (Directive 2013/11/EU) and
  • Online consumer dispute resolution (regulation 524/2013).
    • Albania

Second Seminar on Constitutional Complaints for Albanian Lawyers in Tirana

Details
Published: November 2, 2018
Frank Hupfeld, head of section of the IRZ; Prof. Dr. Jan Bergmann, senate chairman at the Administrative Court of Baden-Wuerttemberg; Dr. Arta Vorpsi, scientific officer at the Constitutional Court of Albania; Rezarta Abdiu, Albanian Bar Association (table front end from left to right)
Frank Hupfeld, head of section of the IRZ; Prof. Dr. Jan Bergmann, senate chairman at the Administrative Court of Baden-Wuerttemberg; Dr. Arta Vorpsi, scientific officer at the Constitutional Court of Albania; Rezarta Abdiu, Albanian Bar Association (table front end from left to right)
Albania

Albania, an EU accession candidate since 2014, carried out comprehensive judicial reforms over the past years. The constitutional amendment of 2016 gave the citizens the right to file individual complaints directly with the Constitutional Court. To make the public aware of this law and thus also to improve the human rights situation in the Balkan state, the IRZ organised a first seminar in July 2018 with the Albanian Bar Association in Tirana. The second seminar followed on 25 and 26 October.

It was based on the IRZ publication issued in 2017 on “The Constitutional Complaint – A Handbook for Practitioners from a German and Albanian Perspective”, compiled in cooperation with the lecturers Dr. Arta Vorpsi, scientific officer of the Constitutional Court, and Professor Dr. Jan Bergmann, Senate Chairman at the Administrative Court of Baden-Wuerttemberg (Bitte LINK setzen).

During the seminar, the participants, about 30 lawyers, were trained in particular with regard to procedural provisions and the drafting of constitutional complaints, the admissibility criteria and the current case law of the European Court of Human Rights

“No plaintiff, no judge”: As no constitutional complaint had been submitted yet when the seminar took place, Professor Dr. Bergmann encouraged the lawyers to file suitable cases with the Constitutional Court in order to continuously advance the legal system of Albania. He recommended to base their complaints not only on the Albanian constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights, but also to quote the Charter of the European Union in view of a future EU membership.

The IRZ and the Albanian Bar Association are planning to organise follow-up events outside Tirana to raise the awareness of more Albanian lawyers for this topic.