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The Opinion welcomes the legislative initiative of Albania to strengthen its National Human Rights Institution in line with the UN Paris Principles, as a positive step toward addressing the recommendations issued by international and regional monitoring bodies. Especially, the Opinion notes positively that the Draft Law addresses the recommendations issued by the GANHRI Sub-Committee on Accreditation – especially by reinforcing guarantees of independence, expanding the functional immunity to commissioners and staff and strengthening the institution’s mandate to promote and protect human rights, including in relation to private actors – and that it reflects a generally comprehensive and well-structured framework for the functioning of the institution. At the same time, the Opinion identifies a number of areas where further improvements could enhance the effectiveness and independence of the People’s Advocate, notably with respect to safeguards concerning adequate funding, financial autonomy, and the effective performance of its mandate, including its role as National Preventive Mechanism under the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture. Additional refinements could also ensure the clearer and more systematic integration of gender equality and diversity considerations in the institution’s mandate, activities and internal functioning.

L’avis juridique porte sur le projet de loi sur l'initiative législative des citoyens de la République d'Albanie. En général, le BIDDH et la Commission de Venise apprécient les efforts de l’Albanie pour adopter une législation sur l’initiative législative citoyenne afin de mettre en œuvre une disposition de la Constitution albanaise, ainsi que les obligations du droit international. L’initiative législative citoyenne et la pétition sont des instruments caractéristiques des Constitutions de nombreux pays visés à impliquer directement le peuple dans le processus législatif national, et peuvent ainsi être qualifiés d’instruments de démocratie directe. Cependant, afin d’améliorer encore la conformité de ce projet de loi aux normes internationales en matière de droits de l'homme et aux engagements de l'OSCE, quelques recommandations sont proposées. En outre, les parties prenantes concernées sont encouragées à veiller à que le projet de loi fasse l'objet d’un vaste processus de consultation tout au long de son élaboration et de son adoption, afin de garantir un processus ouvert et transparent, et ainsi accroître la confiance dans la législation adoptée et dans les institutions étatiques en général.

Summary: The scope of this Opinion focuses on the draft law on the legislative initiative of the citizens of the Republic of Albania. In general, ODIHR and the Venice Commission welcome Albania’s efforts to adopt legislation on the legislative initiative of citizens in order to implement the related provision of the Constitution, as well international obligations. The citizens’ legislative initiative and the petition are the typical instruments provided by many Constitutions with the aim of directly involving the people in the country’s decision-making process, and could therefore be called instruments of direct democracy. However, in order to further improve the compliance of this draft law with international human rights obligations and OSCE commitments, a number of recommendations have been extended. In addition, relevant stakeholders were encouraged to ensure that the draft law undergoes extensive consultation processes throughout the drafting and adoption process, to ensure an open and transparent process, and thereby increase confidence and trust in the adopted legislation, and in the relevant state institutions in general.