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Albania Domestic Violence Law in Albania
- Edited by Margaret Brinig
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- Book:
- International Survey of Family Law 2021
- Published by:
- Intersentia
- Published online:
- 22 February 2022
- Print publication:
- 28 September 2021, pp 17-36
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Summary
Résumé
En Albanie, la violence domestique est un problème social et juridique. Elle se manifeste sous toutes ses formes: physique, psychologique, économique et sexuelle. En Albanie, après 1992, la violence et la criminalité domestiques ont « triomphé » des autres types de crimes. Les principaux sujets passifs de la violence domestique sont les femmes, les enfants et les personnes âgées. Il existe des cas assez fréquents dans lesquels un homme tue sa femme ou viole ses enfants, ou des cas de prostitution et de trafic d’enfants ou de femmes. La violence est une force destructrice qui a des conséquences non seulement pour la victime, mais aussi pour l’auteur lui-même. Selon des études menées en suivant les décisions des tribunaux à différentes périodes, en Albanie, la criminalité domestique a augmenté de manière significative. Elle se manifeste sous la forme de meurtres, de blessures, de viols, etc.
Le Comité des Nations Unies pour l’élimination de la violence à l’égard des femmes, suite au premier rapport de l’Êtat albanais en janvier 2003, a recommandé, entre autres, que « l’Albanie prenne l’initiative de rédiger une législation spéciale contre la violence domestique ». Le Code de la famille de 2003 prévoyait, pour la première fois, des dispositions concernant l’éloignement du domicile conjugal du conjoint violent. En novembre 2006, l’OSCE a publié « Analyse du système de justice pénale en Albanie », un rapport sur le projet pour le développement d’un procès légal et équitable. Ce rapport a aussi présenté un portrait sombre du traitement des victimes de violence domestique et des cas de violence traités par les tribunaux. Une autre publication, intitulée « Normes internationales sur les problèmes de violence domestique et leur mise en oeuvre dans les Balkans occidentaux », a examiné les besoins des victimes et la manière dont ils sont satisfaits par les différents pays. ÜAlbanie était très en retard dans la réalisation de ces normes, quoiqu’une loi spéciale sur les mesures de lutte contre la violence domestique a été rédigée et approuvée par le Parlement en 2006, grâce à une initiative de 20 000 électeurs.
Des études ont montré qu’un système complet et coordonné est le meilleur moyen de répondre à la violence domestique.
European Court of Human Rights: Challenging Paternity under Case Law of the European Court of Human Rights
- Edited by Margaret Brinig
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- Book:
- International Survey of Family Law 2020
- Published by:
- Intersentia
- Published online:
- 09 February 2021
- Print publication:
- 23 September 2020, pp 99-114
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Summary
Résumé
Les affaires relatives à une contestation de paternité ne sont pas nouvelles en Europe. La jurisprudence de la Cour européenne des Droits de l’Homme (CEDH) a statué sur ces affaires bien que le droit de la famille relève en principe de la vie privée. La CEDH s’est exprimée à différentes reprises sur des actions relatives au lien de paternité, en se référant tant aux obligations de l’État qu’au critère de l’intérêt supérieur de l’enfant. Le droit à l’identité de l’enfant a été invoqué dans plusieurs affaires, ce qui a permis à la Cour d’assurer la sécurité juridique des relations familiales, protégeant ainsi les parents qu’ils soient mariés ou non. La présente recherche porte sur les principes établis par la CEDH qui devraient être appliqués par les juridictions nationales tant dans les actions en contestation qu’en établissement de la paternité intentées par le père présumé et biologique.
INTRODUCTION
The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has constantly held that resolving questions of disputed paternity falls within the scope of the child's private life. Despite having clear implications for family life, the Court has generally categorised these cases as pertaining to private life.
A child born in wedlock is presumed to have as a father the spouse of the mother. The man who wants to challenge paternity might be obliged to allege before the Court that the wife has been unfaithful, or that he was not present at the time of conception, or that the child's birth was concealed from the father, or put forward other evidence excluding the possibility of paternity, such as a scientific test. Then, the presumption of paternity is rebutted, giving the biological father the opportunity to challenge the presumed paternity.
In Kroon v. Netherlands, the Court concluded that ‘respect for family life requires that biological and social reality prevail over a legal presumption, which flies in the face of both estab ished fact and the wishes of those concerned without actually benefiting anyone’.
Respect for family life or private life implies positive obligations for the State, requiring it to provide the individual with an effective and accessible means by which he can establish whether he is the father of the child.
Albania: Are Albanian Legal Rules on Divorce Adequate for High-Conflict Divorces?
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- By Ledina Mandija, Lecturer of Family Law and Civil Procedural Law, Law Department, European University of Tirana
- Edited by Margaret Brinig
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- Book:
- International Survey of Family Law 2019
- Published by:
- Intersentia
- Published online:
- 09 November 2019
- Print publication:
- 16 September 2019, pp 1-12
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Summary
INTRODUCTION
Respect for private and family life is a fundamental human right recognised from and guaranteed by the European Convention on Human Rights, of which Albania became a member in 1996. In its narrow meaning the notion of family law, as basically protected by the Convention, means the parents and the children. But in the meaning of the Convention this is not limited only to the parents and children. The jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights has accepted that family life covers all persons who have blood ties or a juridical relationship like marriage.
The right to marry and found a family is provided by Article 12 of the Convention and is closely related to the right for respect to private and family life as provided by Article 8. According to Article 12 of the Convention, ‘Men and women of marriageable age have the right to marry and to found a family, according to the national laws governing the exercise of this right’. The concept of family life, according to the jurisprudence of the ECtHR, involves the idea of providing protection to spouses from each other. In its jurisprudence the court has accepted and defined the respect and dignity between spouses during marriage as the fundamental objective according to Article 8 of the Convention where the court acknowledged the positive obligations of the state for insuring the effective respect to family life between spouses, especially in the circumstances of a couple in crisis.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to which Albania is a party, followed on from the International Covenant for Civil and Political Rights, and has stipulated the obligation of free and complete consent of the spouses to get married, during marriage and dissolution of the marriage. This principle is partially guaranteed by Article 14 of the Convention and Article 5 of the Protocol 7, which provides that:
Spouses shall enjoy equality of rights and responsibilities of a private law character between them, and in relations with their children, as to marriage, during marriage and in the event of its dissolution. This article shall not prevent States from taking such measures as are necessary in the interest of the children.
The wording ‘in the event of marriage dissolution’, does not imply the obligation of the state to provide the dissolution of marriage or any of the other forms of dissolving the marriage.
Albania Cross-Border Disputes over Child Custody and Access Rights and the ECtHR Jurisprudence in the Case of Albania
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- By Ledina Mandija, Lecturer in Civil Procedural Law and Head of the Public Law Department, Faculty of Law, European University of Tirana (UET), Albania
- Edited by Margaret Brinig
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- Book:
- International Survey of Family Law 2018
- Published by:
- Intersentia
- Published online:
- 31 January 2019
- Print publication:
- 28 September 2018, pp 51-70
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Summary
INTRODUCTION
Albanian legislation provides for dissolution of the marriage and its consequences of child custody, visiting and maintenance. The Family Code that is in force today in Albania provides that during a divorce, the spouses may resolve its child-related consequences. This can also be done at a later stage. Parents may be of Albanian nationality or different nationalities, and the Albanian courts have jurisdiction to decide the dispute under the current legislation.
Enforcement of final judgments has been and remains a challenge for Albania, which has been penalised time after time by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). In this framework, the enforcement of the judgments on custody and access rights in case of divorce remain absolutely crucial, when taking into consideration the movement abroad of one of the spouses.
The problem becomes more complex when the couples are binational, because different courts have jurisdiction to decide on maintenance and visiting, and the court must determine which judgments should be enforced in which countries.
Albania has its own legislation on maintenance and post-divorce visiting, but also on the enforcement of final judgments. The adopted legislation has been harmonised with the international legal instruments, which were signed and ratified by Albania over many years and are directly applicable according to the Constitution.
The legal framework governing the above-mentioned situations is based on the main principle of the best interests of the child, but also considers public order and the fair balance between the interests of the two parents and children. Nowadays, Albania has ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child of 1989 (CRC), the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (Hague Child Abduction) and the 1996 Hague Convention on Jurisdiction, Applicable Law, Recognition, Enforcement and Cooperation in Respect of Parental Responsibility and Measures for Protection of Children (Hague Child Protection). All are now part of its internal legislation. Also, Albania has ratified a number of bilateral agreements, which can be applied in the case of recognition and enforcement of foreign decisions including child custody and access rights after divorce.