Violation of the right to due process and property are the main causes penalizing the Albanian state by the Strasbourg Court (2015-2024). According to Open Data Albania data, for the period 2015 – 2024, the Albanian state has recognized financial obligations of about 39.3 million euros, or about 3.8 billion lekë, in the form of damages ordered by the Strasbourg Court.
These obligations stem from 103 decisions where state responsibility and the need for financial compensation were found.
The most frequent violations are related to the violation of the right to a fair trial and the right to property.
In total, out of 102 decisions with financial obligation, in 62 cases the Court has found a violation of one or more rights guaranteed by the European Convention on Human Rights. Meanwhile, 25 cases have been closed by friendly agreement between the parties or by unilateral declaration by the Albanian Government. These decisions are considered by the Court as alternative forms to address the violations without continuing the judicial process.
The analysis of decisions finding violations for the period 2015 – 2024 shows that 43.8% of them involve violations of Article 6 §1, which guarantees the right to a fair trial. These cases are mainly related to delays in proceedings, lack of access to court, and non-enforcement of final decisions.
ANALYSIS
Open Data Albania is analyzing the financial obligations of the Albanian state arising from the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg, for the period 2015 – 2024. Data on these decisions were obtained from the Center for Official Publications (QBZ), where the decisions of the ECHR are published based on Article 19, point 2, of Law no. 10 018/2008; the official website of the State Attorney's Office, which follows and reports cases against Albania; as well as the portal of the Strasbourg Court, where the full decisions for each case handled are accessible.
For the period 2015 – 2024, the Albanian state has recognized financial obligations of around 39.3 million euros, or around 3.8 billion lekë, in the form of damages ordered by the Strasbourg Court. These obligations stem from 103 decisions where state responsibility and the need for financial compensation have been established. The most frequent violations are related to the violation of the right to a fair trial and the right to property.
The year with the highest financial burden is 2016, with 12 decisions involving compensation payments totaling 18.2 million euros (2.3 billion lekë). 2018 ranks second with a liability value of 13.5 million euros.
Meanwhile, the year 2024 results in the largest number of decisions resulting in financial compensation obligations, specifically 26 decisions.
Despite the known values, a significant part of these obligations continues to remain unliquidated. According to the 2024 budget report, the value of the unpaid obligations invoice from the Strasbourg Court's decisions amounts to around 18 million euros, which constitutes a continuing risk to fiscal stability and an indicator of the slowness of the implementation of decisions by the Albanian authorities.
The case with the highest financial obligation for the Albanian state is the case “Sharxhi and Others v. Albania”, with a decision issued on 28 May 2018. The case relates to the demolition of the residential complex “Rezidenca Jon” in Vlora, where the Court found that the Albanian authorities had acted in the absence of a formal decision and in violation of final court decisions, violating the right to property (Article 1 of Protocol No. 1), private life (Article 8) and failing to provide effective legal remedies (Article 13). The decision imposes an obligation of 13.4 million euros on the Albanian state, which according to the data of the 2025 mid-year report remains unpaid.
Another case with a significant financial burden is “Rista and Others v. Albania”, with a judgment issued on 17 March 2016. The case involves seven complaints filed by 57 citizens regarding the non-enforcement of domestic decisions ordering compensation for property confiscated during the communist period. The Court found a violation of Article 6 § 1 for non-enforcement of judicial decisions, of Article 13 for lack of effective remedies and of Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 for violation of the right to property. The Albanian State was ordered to pay a total amount of over 10.7 million euros. Of this amount, 6.3 million euros were paid in December 2016, while around 4.4 million euros remain a recognized obligation, still unenforced.
In third place in terms of the value of compensation is the case of “Karagjozi and Others v. Albania”, with a decision issued on 7 April 2016. The case concerns the non-implementation for many years of the final decision of the Property Compensation Commission, which recognized the applicants’ rights over an area of 640,000 m2. The Court confirmed that the Albanian authorities had not provided a functional mechanism for compensation and had violated the right to a fair trial (Article 6 §1), the right to property (Article 1 of Protocol No. 1) and the right to an effective remedy (Article 13). The obligation determined by the ECHR in this case is 5.9 million euros.
These three issues together account for about 76.4% of the total financial liabilities recognized for the analyzed period.
The ranking of cases with the highest financial burden is followed by “Sharra and Others v. Albania”, with an obligation of 3.88 million euros, related to the non-implementation of domestic decisions for property compensation and violations of the right to property, due process and effective legal remedies. It is followed by the case “Siliqi and Others”, where the state was ordered to pay 1.5 million euros in damages for non-compliance with final decisions for property compensation. The case “Valio Shipping Company”, with an obligation of around 1.2 million euros, is related to the violation of the right to property and the discriminatory treatment of the complainant in a judicial process for the restitution of property. The latter closes the list of cases where the Court has ordered financial compensation of over 1 million euros, for the period 2015 – 2024.
In total, out of 102 decisions with financial obligation, in 62 cases the Court has found a violation of one or more rights guaranteed by the European Convention on Human Rights. Meanwhile, 25 cases have been closed by friendly agreement between the parties or by unilateral declaration by the Albanian Government. These decisions are considered by the Court as alternative forms to address the violations without continuing the judicial process.
The analysis of decisions finding violations for the period 2015 – 2024 shows that 43.8% of them involve violations of Article 6 §1, which guarantees the right to a fair trial. These cases are mainly related to delays in proceedings, lack of access to court, and non-enforcement of final decisions.
In second place in terms of frequency are violations of Article 13, related to the lack of effective legal remedies, found in 17.5% of cases. They are followed by violations of Article 1 of Protocol No. 1, which guarantees the right to property, which constitute 16.3% of the total.
