Conference on “Judicial ethics and disciplinary proceedings against judges”

Attendees at the conference on the specifics of disciplinary proceedings against judges and issues of judicial ethics held in Albania on 14-15 November 2022.
Albania

IRZ organised a conference on 14-15 November 2022 on the specifics of disciplinary proceedings against judges which explored issues of judicial ethics with the Special Appeals Chamber of the Republic of Albania. The IRZ invited Dr Frank Czaja, Presiding Judge at the Cologne Higher Regional Court and Dr Ingo Werner, Judge at the Cologne Higher Regional Court provided insights into German practice.

The first day of the event was attended by six judges and ten scientific employees of the Special Appeals Chamber to discuss questions of substantive disciplinary law. The conference started with a welcome from Ms. Anja Finke, Deputy Head of the IRZ section Southeast Europe II and South Caucasus and Ms. Albana Shtylla, President of the Special Appointments Chamber of the Republic of Albania. She gave a detailed explanation of the role, tasks and current challenges of the Special Appeals Chamber. The subsequent presentations by the two German experts focused in particular on the course of official disciplinary proceedings and the proceedings before the judicial service courts.

The second day of the event focused on the formal aspects of disciplinary proceedings against judges and was aimed at around 20 employees of the administrative apparatus of the Special Appeals Chamber The participants discussed questions around the anonymisation and publication of decisions in the context of disciplinary proceedings along with formal points regarding responsibilities, procedures and deadlines.

The event was supported by the Federal Foreign Office as part of a project funding on “court organisation”, and was held in a climate of trust and honest discussion and a particularly active and fascinating exchange between the German team of speakers and the representatives of the Special Appeals Chamber.

 


 

Seminar on constitutional complaints for the Albanian legal profession

Participants of the advanced seminar for Albanian lawyers on the topic of “Constitutional complaints” on 25 October 2022.
Participants of the advanced seminar for Albanian lawyers on the topic of “Constitutional complaints” on 25 October 2022.
Albania

On 12 October 2022 IRZ, in cooperation with the Albanian Bar Association, organised an advanced seminar for Albanian lawyers on the subject of “constitutional complaints”.

The event followed a series of seminars on constitutional complaints that were launched in 2018. After the events were held online between 2020 and early 2022 due to the pandemic, the 14th seminar in the series in Vlora (Albania) was again held as a face-to-face event and therefore attracted great interest among the Albanian legal profession.

Prof Dr Maksim Haxhia, President of the Albanian Bar Association, and Frank Hupfeld, Head of the IRZ's South East Europe II and South Caucasus section, opened the seminar in front of 32 Albanian and 3 Kosovan lawyers. The IRZ invited Prof Dr Jan Bergmann, Presiding Judge at the Administrative Court of Baden-Württemberg and Prof Dr Arta Vorpsi, Professor of constitutional law, on the European dogmatics of human rights, to give presentations on the test schemes in the violation of fundamental freedom and equality rights and the admissibility requirements of the Albanian constitutional complaints system. The theoretical basics were explored using concrete case studies and practical exercises.

In particular, the event offered the opportunity for a practice-oriented and comparative exchange of experience and expertise between German and Albanian legal practitioners to familiarise themselves with the specific features, prerequisites and practical significance of constitutional complaints.

The series of seminars was held to examine the change in the Albanian constitution in 2016, through which Albanian citizens may address individual constitutional complaints directly to the Albanian constitutional court.

 

The role of the notary’s office in combating money laundering

Attendees at the expert seminar on the “Role of the notary's office in preventing and combating money laundering” held on 16 November 2022 in Tirana.
Albania

IRZ organised an expert seminar followed by a panel discussion on the “Role of the notary's office in preventing and combating money laundering” with the Federal Chamber of Notaries, the National Chamber of Notaries of Albania and the Albanian General Directorate for Combating Money Laundering in Tirana on 16 November 2022. The event followed on from an online seminar from the previous year and the work that had been started between the Federal Chamber of Notaries and the National Chamber of Notaries of Albania.

Expert seminar “Combating money laundering in notarial practice”: typology, obligations and a practical implementation

An expert seminar was held on the morning of 16 November at the premises of the Albanian Chamber of Notaries in Tirana, attended by approx. 30 Albanian notaries. The participants were welcomed by Mr. Richard Bock, Judicial Councillor and General Plenipotentiary of the Federal Chamber of Notaries for International Affairs, Mr. Fatmir Lacej, Vice-President of the National Chamber of Notaries of Albania and Mr. Frank Hupfeld, Head of the Project Area South East Europe II and South Caucasus of IRZ. The event kicked off when the representatives of the Directorate General for Money Laundering presented current developments and challenges in the fight against money laundering in Albania; they stressed the importance of the obligation to report on the part of notaries. Dr Lovro Tomasic, General Plenipotentiary of the Federal Chamber of Notaries for International Affairs then gave a presentation. The role of the notary's office was presented using actual case studies along with the principles of the scope of application of the Money Laundering Act. Dr Tomasic also responded to the question of a general risk analysis for the notary's office and its due diligence and reporting obligations.

Panel discussion in the Albanian Ministry of Justice

Following the expert seminar for Albanian notaries, a public panel discussion was held in the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Albania, attended by over 170 representatives of central institutions for fighting money laundering in Albania. The event was opened by Ms. Mimoza Sadushaj, President of the Albanian Chamber of Notaries, Mr. Jens Bormann, President of the Federal Chamber of Notaries, Mr. Andi Përmeti, Section Head of the Department for Liberal Professions in the Albanian Ministry of Justice, SE. Mr. Peter Zingraf, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany in Albania and Mr. Frank Hupfeld. The panel discussion started with keynote speeches by Ms. Sadushaj, Dr Tomasic and Mr. Ervin Koçi, Director of the General Directorate for the Prevention of Money Laundering.

The event promoted the German-Albanian exchange of expertise and experience and the networking of relevant actors in the fight against money laundering with the Albanian notary's office.

Meeting with the Minister of Justice of the Republic of Albania

The exchange of expertise and experience was rounded off on the following day with a meeting with Mr Ulsi Manja, Minister of Justice of the Republic of Albania, with the participation of the Federal Chamber of Notaries, the National Chamber of Notaries of Albania, the German Ambassador and the IRZ.