Council of Europe Albania : Programmatic Co-operation Document 2015-2017 Council of Europe Office of the Directorate General of Programmes Avenue de l’Europe F-67075 Strasbourg CEDEX E-mail: [email protected] www.coe.int/en/web/programmes Council of Europe Office in Albania Skanderbeg Square, Palace of Culture Tirana Tirana, Albania Tel: +355 44 54 02 01 Fax: +355 42 24 89 40 PREMS060515 E-mail: [email protected] www.coe.al ENG The Council of Europe is the continent’s leading human rights organisation. It comprises 47 member states, 28 of which are www.coe.int members of the European Union. All Council of Europe member states have signed up to the European Convention on Human Rights, a treaty designed to protect human rights, democracy and the rule of law. The European Court of Human Rights oversees the implementation of the Convention in the member states. Albania: Programmatic Co-operation Document 2015-2017 GR-DEM(2015)7 17 March 2015 Document approved by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on 1 April 2015 [CM/Del/Dec(2015)1224] 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Acronyms and Abbreviations ................................................................................................... 3 General Overview .................................................................................................................................. 4 1. Ensuring Justice ................................................................................................................................ 6 1.1 Overall Objective .................................................................................................................. 7 1.2. Specific Objectives and Expected Results .......................................................................... 7 2. Fighting Corruption, Economic Crime and Organised Crime ..................................................... 11 2.1. Overall Objective ............................................................................................................... 11 2.2. Specific Objectives and Expected Results ........................................................................ 11 3. Freedom of Expression and Information Society ........................................................................ 14 3.1. Overall Objective ............................................................................................................... 14 3.2. Specific Objectives and Expected Results ........................................................................ 14 4. Anti-discrimination, Respect for Human Rights and Social Inclusion ...................................... 17 4.1. Overall Objective ............................................................................................................... 18 4.2. Specific Objectives and Expected Results ........................................................................ 18 5. Democratic Governance and Participation ................................................................................... 25 5.1. Overall Objective ............................................................................................................... 25 5.2. Specific Objectives and Expected Results ........................................................................ 25 Appendix I. Financial Table: Budget Allocation per Sector ............................................................ 29 Appendix II. Provisional List of Actions ............................................................................................ 30 1. Ensuring Justice ................................................................................................................. 30 2. Fighting Corruption, Economic Crime and Organised Crime ........................................ 31 3. Freedom of Expression and Information Society ........................................................... 31 4. Anti-discrimination, Respect for Human Rights and Social Inclusion ......................... 31 5. Democratic Governance and Participation ...................................................................... 33 3 LIST OF ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS CEB Council of Europe Development Bank CEC Central Election Commission CEPEJ European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice CM Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe CoE Council of Europe Congress CoE Congress of Local and Regional Authorities CPT European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment CRA Communications Regulatory Agency CRPD Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities EC European Commission ECHR European Convention on Human Rights ECRI European Commission against Racism and Intolerance ECRML European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages ECSR European Committee of Social Rights ECtHR European Court of Human Rights EHEA European Higher Education Area ESC European Social Charter EU European Union FCNM Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities GR-DEM Rapporteur Group on Democracy GRECO Group of States against Corruption HJPC High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council HRM Human Resources Management IDMC Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre IDPs Internally Displaced Persons IMC Inter-Municipal Co-operation JPTC Judicial and Prosecutorial Training Centres JSRS Justice Sector Reform Strategy MONEYVAL Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures and the Financing of Terrorism NFA Norway Framework Agreement OB Ordinary Budget ODIHR Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights OSCE Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe PACE Parliamentary Assembly of the CoE SEE South East Europe UNHCR Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees 4 GENERAL OVERVIEW Albania joined the Council of Europe on 13 July 1995 as its 35th member State. Upon accession, Albania accepted the obligations incumbent on all member States under Article 3 of the Statute1: compliance with the principles of pluralist democracy and the rule of law as well as respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms of all persons placed under its jurisdiction. At the same time, it entered into a number of specific commitments which it agreed to honour within set deadlines and which are listed in Parliamentary Assembly Opinion No. 189 (1995) on Albania's application for membership of the Council of Europe. The Parliamentary Assembly Monitoring Committee is responsible for verifying the fulfilment of obligations under the terms of the Statute of the Council of Europe, the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and all other Council of Europe conventions, as well as the honouring of commitments entered into by the authorities upon accession to the Council of Europe. Albania is also subject to a number of specific monitoring mechanisms, including the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) that delivers judgments,the execution of which are being supervised by the Committee of Ministers. Other institutions promote or monitor compliance with commitments, such as the European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission), the Human Rights Commissioner, the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI), the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT), the European Committee of Social Rights (ECSR), the Group of States Against Corruption (GRECO), the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities (the Congress), the Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures (Moneyval), the Group of Experts against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA), and the Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention for the Protection of Minorities. Experts designated by Albania contribute to the Council of Europe’s intergovernmental activities, through their participation in steering (or other) committees, and may also be required, in their field of competence, to review the application of conventions and/or Committee of Ministers’ recommendations, on the basis of information supplied by their members. Co-operation programme between the Council of Europe and Albania The first Council of Europe Co-operation Document for Albania was approved by the Committee of Ministers in October 2012. It was a framework for co-operation between the Council of Europe and Albania for the period 2012 – 2014 to sustain reforms aimed at fulfilling the country’s commitments as a Council of Europe member State. The priority areas for the Programmatic Co-operation Document included: anti-discrimination and social inclusion; ensuring justice and promoting human rights; fighting corruption and organised crime; freedom of expression and information society and democratic governance, including elections and local democracy. On 15 April 2014, representatives of the Council of Europe Secretariat and Albanian authorities met in Tirana to review the progress made in the implementation of the Co-operation Document during the period October 2012 – March 2014. In July 2014, the Committee of Ministers took note of the progress report on the implementation of the co-operation document, acknowledged the progress achieved and paved the way for the preparation of a new Programmatic Co-operation Document 2015 – 2017. The present Programmatic Co-operation Document is a strategic and sectoral programming instrument, allowing for an inclusive and coherent approach to co-operation. It aims to support Albania in meeting its remaining statutory and specific obligations as a CoE member State and to help bring Albania’s legislation, institutions