A2 CNN has secured the opinion of the Venice Commission, requested by the Parliament of Albania regarding the compatibility or not of the mandate of the deputy of the Socialist Party, Olta Xhaçka.
"Venecia" says that all authorities, including the Parliament of Albania, are obliged to implement the decisions of the Constitutional Court.
Parliament cannot refer to the principle of separation of powers to refuse to respect and implement the decisions of the Constitutional Court. So there can be no political discretion to respect and implement the decisions of the Constitutional Court. In this specific case, the Constitutional Court has given two decisions and compliance with these decisions should not be conditioned by the vote or the parliamentary majority.
Excerpt from the opinion of the Venice Commission
Regarding the mandate of MP Olta Xhaçka, the Constitutional Court has expressed with two decisions where it has sanctioned that her body is the only one that can examine the basis of the case, for which reason the Assembly should send it for trial. Speaker Olta Zaçaj also publicly stated that the decisions of the Constitutional Court have binding power for the Assembly as well. Socialists claim that the Constitution gives them the right to disagree with this approach, so in order to resolve the conflict, they requested an opinion from the Venice Commission.
The issue of the mandate of a deputy is understood as follows: "What standards govern the mandate of a deputy in a representative parliamentary democracy and under what circumstances can a deputy be forced to vote in a certain way? The conclusion can be this: "The compliance of all authorities with the decision of the Constitutional Court is based on the principle of constitutional loyalty as an element of the rule of law. This compliance should not be made conditional on a parliamentary majority vote, but is an essential requirement of the rule of law. When a judgment of the Constitutional Court interprets that the Constitution limits the decision-making power of the Parliament, the latter must implement the decision and vote on the case in question as determined by the Constitutional Court and not only on the possibility of sending the case to the Constitutional Court. Parliament is therefore not obliged to vote in a certain way, but can only vote on issues that are within its competence.
Excerpt from the opinion of the Venice Commission (A2 Televizion)
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MUND TE LEXONI GJITHASHTU
