01 July 2021
The new Balkans Group article “Albania: Impeachment of the President, subject to the meaning of “serious violation”, analyzes and outlines the potential scenarios following the impeachment of President Ilir Meta, voted in the Parliament of Albania on 9 June 2021. This unprecedented case is now subject of judicial review by the Constitutional Court.
Challenges to conclude the process are legal and procedural. First, the Constitutional Court will struggle to determine what constitutes a “serious violation”, in the absence of a clear constitutional and legal definition. Yet, in case the Constitutional Court upholds the impeachment, the next challenge will be the process and the timeline for the election of the new President, again in the absence of explicit constitutional or legal provisions.
The case at hand is the first one to happen in Albania since the fall of communism. As such, it will serve as precedent for future cases and will raise the need for improved constitutional and legal provisions.
This article provides an in-depth legal and procedural analysis of the whole process of impeachment, its potential outcome, and elections of the new President, should the Court uphold the impeachment.
Read the full policy article here.
This publication has been produced with the support of the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Prishtina. The views and analysis in this publication are solely of the Balkans Group and do not reflect the views of the donor.
