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The Constitutional Court has decided to review behind closed doors the agreement with Italy for immigrants.
The Democratic Party addressed you with a request asking for a public hearing, but the Constitutional Court refused, stating that the review will be closed to the public.
" The Meeting of Judges of the Constitutional Court, after considering your request dated 10.01.2024 with the interim decision dated 11.01.2024, has decided to reject the request for consideration of the case in a public plenary session", announces the Constitutional Court.
Regarding the decision, the head of the parliamentary group of the DP, Gazment Bardhi himself reacted. He accused the court of lack of transparency.
" The lack of transparency from the Council of Ministers during the negotiation and signing of the Protocol for immigrants with Italy, seems to continue even during the consideration of this issue by the Constitutional Court, as long as the public and the media do not have the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the materials of the case and to hear the positions of the parties, the Court's questions and their answers, as well as the judicial debate. On Friday, the Constitutional Court rejected the DP Parliamentary Group's request to request a public examination of this issue. In its response, the Constitutional Court states that the meeting of judges on 11.01.2024 has decided that the hearing will be held behind closed doors ", says Bardhi.
On December 13, the meeting of judges of the Constitutional Court evaluated as legal the request of 30 opposition MPs, directed by Gazment Bardhi. In their lawsuit, they requested the suspension of the approval, as a first step, and then the annulment as unconstitutional of the Rama-Meloni agreement for the reception in Albania of foreign immigrants caught in the Mediterranean Sea.
" On December 6, 2023, 30 deputies of the Assembly of the Republic of Albania submitted to the Constitutional Court a request for the review of the constitutionality of the Protocol signed between the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Albania and the Government of the Italian Republic, "For the strengthening of cooperation in the field of migration". This request was submitted before the ratification of this Protocol, based on Article 131, point 1, letter "b", of the Constitution. The group of deputies has raised claims that the negotiation and signing procedure was not respected, since the Cooperation Protocol is part of those categories of agreements that require the authorization of the President, since it affects issues of territory and fundamental rights, according to Article 121, point 1 , letters "a" and "b", of the Constitution.
Also, they have submitted three identical requests for the suspension of parliamentary procedures for ratification, on the grounds that the review and voting of the Protocol is planned by the Assembly for the plenary session of December 14, 2023. The College of the Constitutional Court, on December 11, 2023 , after considering the case in advance, decided to pass it on for review at the Meeting of Judges. The meeting of judges, convened today, on December 13, 2023, assessed that the request meets the preliminary criteria of admissibility and decided to transfer the case to a plenary session, based on the documents. Based on article 52, point 3, of law no. 8577/2000, the hearing of the case automatically suspends the ratification procedures in the Assembly of the Cooperation Protocol, until the final decision of the Constitutional Court. Keeping in mind the provision of the same legal provision (Article 52, point 3), which requires the conclusion of the case review within 3 months from the submission of the request, the Meeting of Judges decided that the hearing will take place on January 18, 2024, at 10:00 a.m. ″, said the president of the Constitutional Court, Holta Zaçaj.
According to the opposition, the agreement has several constitutional violations, but two are the main ones. First, the Prime Minister did not receive authorization from the President to give Albanian territory to Italy for use. The opposition MPs reason that, after the decision of the Constitutional Court in 2010 on the Sea Agreement with Greece, the government cannot negotiate an agreement with another country on issues involving territory, unless it first receives authorization from the president.
The other main argument is the issue of violation of human rights in the territory of Albania.
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