Edi Rama held a meeting with the parliamentary group of the Socialist Party of Albania, where proposed legal changes were presented that aim to limit the ability of courts to suspend ministers and several other constitutional positions from office.
The legal amendments bear the signatures of Rama, the leader of the socialist parliamentary group Taulant Balla, and the chairman of the Laws Committee Ulsi Manja. After being presented to the parliamentary group, the draft is expected to be submitted for consideration to the Albanian Parliament.
According to the proposal, Article 242 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which currently does not allow suspension from office only for members of parliament and mayors, will be amended. With the new amendments, the list is intended to be expanded to include the President, the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister, ministers, the Ombudsman, the head of the Supreme State Audit Office and members of the Constitutional Court.
During the presentation of the initiative, Manja explained that Article 242 regulates prohibitive measures in criminal proceedings, including suspension from office. According to him, currently the second point of the article excludes from this measure persons elected under the electoral law, such as MPs, mayors and members of municipal councils.
"We propose that in point 2, the circle of subjects against whom suspension from office cannot be imposed as a measure be added. This circle of subjects is added with the president, the ombudsman, the prime minister, the deputy prime minister and ministers, members of the Constitutional Court and the chairman of the Supreme Audit Office."
"So, from the three subjects that Article 242 of the Criminal Procedure Code excludes from the measure of suspension from duty, 7 other subjects are added. We have strictly referred to the constitution of the republic and which constitute the main pillars of the rule of law."
According to the new proposal, the circle of subjects who cannot be suspended from office will be expanded to include seven other high-ranking state positions. Manja stressed that the intervention is based on the Constitution and aims to guarantee the normal functioning of the main state institutions.
He added that the amendments do not aim to limit criminal investigation or create individual immunities, but to establish a balance between the exercise of constitutional functions and respect for the legal order, in accordance with the principle of separation and balance of powers.
