FLASH
Shkruar nga Arben Llangozi
The new draft of the Criminal Code, which is being sold to us as a major reform in the criminal justice system, is actually a deep moral and institutional disappointment.
Seven years of academic work, hundreds of hours of discussions, roundtables, national and international expertise, and in the end: a Criminal Code that neglects precisely those who need protection the most, children.
The new draft of the Penal Code, which is being sold to us as a major reform in the criminal justice system, is actually a deep moral and institutional disappointment. Not because of its volume. Not because of its legal style. But for a much simpler and more dramatic reason: this Code does not protect children.
If a child is abused on the street, at school, in the neighborhood, in a dysfunctional family, the Code offers nothing concrete for him. Not a special shield, not an expedited procedure, not a legal sensitivity to his age. That child must behave like an adult, sue like an adult, testify like an adult, or remain silent like an ordinary victim in a state that does not see.
This is not a technical oversight. It is a deliberate negligence. A cold, calculated institutional act that sees the child as a side problem of criminal justice. And this is a national shame.
Instead of protecting minors, we have lengthy articles that punish everything else: from public speaking to “provocative” attitudes towards the moral order. The new penal code is a catalogue of punishments, not a social shield.
It comes with a controlling, rigid, repressive spirit. And the worst thing is that while it is dedicated to the details of an adult’s behavior, it says nothing about violence against children.
This "reform" is a cosmetic operation on a sick body. Designed in the sterile offices of universities or ministries, without sensitivity, without contact with reality. Without a vision for the future. Because, let's put it bluntly: a state that does not protect children has no future.
What kind of reform is this that does not even recognize bullying as a criminal offense against minors? What kind of code is this that does not provide any mechanism for immediate protection when a child is a victim of psychological or physical violence? On what legal logic can a project be based that allows children to face violence without any institutional support?
We are told that this is a Code with European standards. But Europe is not only prisons and sentences. Europe is social protection. Europe is response mechanisms. Europe is equality before the law, but also sensitivity to age, gender and social situation.
Children are the ones who cannot fight for themselves. And when the state does not protect them, it becomes complicit in the violence that occurs against them. No legal phrase, no press conference, no donor report can hide this.
This Penal Code, as it is, must be returned to the table. Because we cannot build a more just society starting from the most serious injustice, silence in the face of violence against a child.
If a Code does not begin with the protection of the weakest, then it is simply a tool of power, not an instrument of justice. And if this is the product of 7 years of academic work, then someone should apologize. Not for the technical content, but for the lack of human conscience.
This Code is a clear indication of how the life of society can be criminalized, filling it with dubious punishments and interpretations, while having no intention whatsoever of protecting people, especially the most vulnerable in it, such as children, who remain completely abandoned.
The Criminal Code should be a clear and unequivocal instrument, leaving no room for vague or subjective interpretations, because the law must guarantee legal certainty and uninterrupted justice for society. It should not be a tool to criminalize the normal life of citizens, but a shield that protects law, order and collective security, focusing on the prevention and real punishment of criminal offenses, especially those that most endanger members of society, such as children and vulnerable groups.
A well-drafted Criminal Code must protect the weak and guarantee that the law is applied fairly and impartially, avoiding any misuse or interpretation that could turn citizens into victims of an arbitrary system, and ensuring that justice is at the service of the entire community and not of any caste or power.
Their penal code is as outdated, as out of touch with social reality, as the drafters themselves who wrote it, stuck in the mindset of control, fear and blackmail, instead of offering a system that protects the law, the citizen and society. Instead of a modern code that prevents crime and strengthens the rule of law, they have produced a manual for arbitrary punishment, where everything is interpreted according to the next mood.
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