The participants in the seminar on asylum law in front of the Supreme Court in Albania
In the first week of December 2017 a two-day seminar on asylum law took place in cooperation with the Supreme Court of Albania.
After the opening of the seminar by the IRZ and Ardian Dvorani, Judge at the Administrative Division of the Albanian Supreme Court, first a presentation on the history and development of asylum law in Albania was given, which also provided an insight into the current challenges in the country. Asylum is a topic becoming also increasingly relevant in Albania and confronting the country with many new challenges.
Dr. Ute Faßnacht, Judge at the Administrative Court of Minden, and Dirk Schäfers, Judge at the Higher Administrative Court of Münster, presented the current development in the asylum procedures in Europe and Germany and gave an overview of the course of the asylum procedure in Germany.
The two German experts could report from their practical experience, which made the presentations very hands-on and led to a lively exchange between the participants and the German side.
Dr. Arta Vorpsi, legal consultant at the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Albania; Professor Dr. Jan Bergmann, President of the Senate at the Administrative Court of Baden-Württemberg; Dr. Vitore Tusha, constitutional lawyer at the Constitutional Court of Albania; Frank Hupfeld, IRZ Head of Section for Albania (from left to right)
The constitutional complaint, which was introduced in Albania in March this year, was developed according to the German model and its legal structure has received a great deal of support from the IRZ in the past. This advice was followed in November by another important element, with the publication of a handbook.
The book entitled “Die Verfassungsbeschwerde – ein Handbuch aus deutscher und albanischer Perspektive” (“The constitutional complaint – a handbook from the German and Albanian perspective”) was presented to a very interested audience of experts on 17 November 2017 in Tirana.
The handbook is intended as a practical guide to applying constitutional complaints and at the same time offers a concise overview of constitutional complaints in Germany and Albania.
The handbook is therefore divided into two sections. The first section introduces constitutional complaints in Germany, including their legal framework conditions and specific features. The second part of the book presents constitutional complaints in Albania. Both sections are not just restricted to classification according to legal doctrine, but also provide the basis for practical and immediate application by readers thanks to assessment methods, case examples and the listing of legal standards.
The book was co-written by German and Albanian authors. The author of the German section is Professor Dr. Jan Bergmann, President of the Senate at the Administrative Court of Baden-Württemberg. The author of the Albanian section is Dr. Arta Vorpsi, a legal consultant at the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Albania. Both authors have long been active in IRZ projects.
The 60 or so participants in the event included judges and expert employees from the constitutional court. Many Albanian lawyers also attended the book presentation.
The plan is to hand out the book to judges and to lawyers. University libraries in Albania should also be supplied with the handbooks so that future legal practitioners can also familiarise themselves with the legal institution of constitutional complaints.
On 25 and 26 April 2017, a two-day seminar was held at the School of Magistrates in Tirana on “Finding, understanding and citing the case law of European Court of Human Rights – Practical instructions for helping judges, prosecutors and students of the School of Magistrates”.
The target groups for this event, which was financed by funds from the German Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection were:
Students at the School of Magistrates,
Criminal court judges,
Civil court judges and
Public prosecutors.
Dr. Stefan von der Beck, Presiding Judge at the Higher Regional Court of Oldenburg, spoke on behalf of the IRZ. The speakers from the Albanian side were Dr. Idlir Peçi, a former Deputy Minister of Justice and acting Deputy Minister of Defence, and Elira Kokona, representing the Ministry of Culture.
Together they were able to give the participants a detailed overview of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR).
Using selected cases, they discussed ECtHR case law, in which article 6 of the ECHR plays a significant role, with the law professionals.
The speakers also shed more light on research work with sources, in particular research on relevant ECHtR sites (“HUDOC”) and gave some practical tips for using these sources.
