Economic and Social Council
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
UNITED E NATIONS Economic and Social Distr. Council GENERAL E/1990/5/Add.67 11 April 2005 Original: ENGLISH Substantive session of 2005 IMPLEMENTATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL COVENANT ON ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS Initial reports submitted by States parties under articles 16 and 17 of the Covenant Addendum ALBANIA* [5 January 2005] * The information submitted by Albania in accordance with the guidelines concerning the initial part of reports of States parties is contained in the core document (HRI/CORE/1/Add.124). GE.05-41010 (E) 110505 E/1990/5/Add.67 page 2 CONTENTS Paragraphs Page Introduction .............................................................................................. 1 - 3 3 Article 1 .................................................................................................... 4 - 9 3 Article 2 .................................................................................................... 10 - 34 11 Article 3 .................................................................................................... 35 - 44 14 Article 6 .................................................................................................... 45 - 100 16 Article 7 .................................................................................................... 101 - 154 27 Article 8 .................................................................................................... 155 - 175 38 Article 9 .................................................................................................... 176 - 226 40 Article 10 .................................................................................................. 227 - 268 54 Article 11 .................................................................................................. 269 - 376 61 Article 12 .................................................................................................. 377 - 505 94 Article 13 .................................................................................................. 506 - 565 126 Article 14 .................................................................................................. 566 145 Article 15 .................................................................................................. 567 - 610 145 E/1990/5/Add.67 page 3 Introduction 1. The Republic of Albania adhered to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights with Law No. 7511 of 8 August 1991, proclaimed by the President of the Republic by Decree No. 18 of 13 August 1991. The Covenant was ratified on 4 October 1991 and entered into force with respect to Albania pursuant to article 27, paragraph 2, of the Covenant on 4 January 1992. 2. This report has been compiled by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the basis of contributions from the relevant ministries and NGOs through its permanent group of experts. 3. With slight exceptions, the report contains information on legislation and practices relevant to the Covenant as of 31 December 2003. The information about the later developments will be given in the next periodic report. Article 1 Right to self-determination 4. The right to self-determination has been fully implemented in the Republic of Albania. Albania is an independent State and a parliamentary republic. It is a united and undivided State and governance is based on a system of elections that are free, equal, general and periodic. The independence of the State and the integrity of its territory, dignity of the individual, human rights and freedoms, social justice, constitutional order, pluralism, national identity and inheritance, religious coexistence, as well as coexistence with, and understanding of, minorities are the bases of the State, which has the duty of respecting and protecting them. 5. These principles have been embodied in the provisions of the new Constitution that was approved by the Parliament (Kuvendi) on 21 October 1998, after people’s referenda. 6. The Republic of Albania submitted the initial report on the implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (CCPR/C/ALB/2004/1) in February 2004; for further details on the right to self-determination provided by this article of the Covenant, reference is made to this report. Disposal of natural resources 7. Article 59 of the Constitution, under social objectives, defines that the State, within its constitutional powers and the means at its disposal, aims to supplement private initiative and responsibility with a healthy and ecologically adequate environment for the present and future generations and rational exploitation of forests, waters, pastures and other natural resources on the basis of the principle of sustainable development. E/1990/5/Add.67 page 4 8. With the view to implementing the principles enshrined in the Constitution, a number of legal acts have been adopted to protect nature and natural resources. Also, several national projects, some of them supported by foreign donors, have been prepared and implemented in the area of protection of nature and its resources. 9. The legal framework in the field of the environment, despite being newly adopted, mainly in the last two years, presents a full panorama of normative acts, legal or sub-legal. However, the process of elaboration, improvement and fulfilment of the above-mentioned legal framework is ongoing. The legal framework in the area of environment is the following: Legal acts in force (a) Law No. 8934 (dated 5 September 2002), “On environmental protection”, which constitutes the framework law for environmental protection; (b) Law No. 8897 (dated 16 May 2002), “On protection of air from pollution”, aims to guarantee the right of citizens to live in uncontaminated air, through protecting human health, fauna, flora and the natural and cultural values of the Albanian environment from air pollution. This should be realized through the identification of sources and pollution classification, indicators of air quality, the limitation of air emissions, general obligations and the responsibilities for operators regarding air protection, supplying environmental certificates as regards activities which pollute the air as well as with the necessary administrative and penal measures; (c) Law No. 8905 (dated 6 June 2002), “On the protection of the marine environment protection from pollution and damage”, which aims to protect the maritime environment of the Republic of Albania from pollution and damage created by human activities in the coastal areas which affect water quality, maritime resources, fauna and flora, and human health, as well as to make difficult the normal development of the activities in this area. (d) Law No. 8906 (dated 6 June 2002), “On protected areas”, aiming at the preservation, administration, management and sustainable utilization of protected areas and their natural and biological resources, improvement of conditions as regards the development of environmental tourism, information and public education for the profit, directly or indirectly, of the local population and of the private and public sector; (e) Law No. 8990 (dated 23 January 2003), “On the environmental impact assessment”, the scope of which is to ensure: The general assessment, integrated and in due time of environmental impact, of projects or activities need to be implemented, through prevention and relieving negative impacts on environment; and an open and impartial assessment process, through the participation of environmental non-governmental organizations, of the project leader as well as of the legal and natural persons being specialized in this field; E/1990/5/Add.67 page 5 (f) Law No. 8977 (dated 12 December 2002), “On the tax system in the Republic of Albania”, in which, for the first time, national taxes have included the following: A carbon tax for gas, benzene, and gasoline, and a tax for plastic packing of liquids (barrels, plastic bottles and plastic boxes of different measures), filled, produced in Albania and being imported for the following products: water, refreshing drink, fruit and vegetable juice, milk and its derivates, edible and lubricant oils and detergents; (g) Law No. 9010 (dated 13 February 2003), “On environmental management of solid waste”. By-laws - decisions of the Council of Ministers (a) Decision of the Council of Ministers No. 103 (dated 31 March 2002) “On environmental monitoring in the Republic of Albania”; (b) Decision of the Council of Ministers “On environmental report 1999-2000”; (c) Decision of the Council of Ministers “On approval of the environmental national action plan”; (d) Decision of the Council of Ministers “On air emission norms”; (e) Decision of the Council of Ministers No. 676 (dated 20 December 2002) “On the declaration of the Albanian monuments of nature”; (f) Decision of the Council of Ministers No. 531 (dated 31 October 2002) “On the declaration of Butrint as a Ramsar area”; (g) Decision of the Council of Ministers No. 364 (18 July 2002) “On approval of the coastal zone administration plan”; (h) Decision of the Council of Ministers “On establishment of the environment Institute”; (i) Decision of the Council of Ministers No. 266 (dated 24 April 2003) “On administrations of protected areas”; (j) Decision of the Council of Ministers No. 267 (dated 24 April 2003) “On rules of protected and buffer zones”; (k) Decision of the Council of Ministers No. 268 (dated 24 April 2003) “On specialists certification for the environmental impact assessment and environmental audit”; (l) Decision of the