ALBANIA

Kuvendi

1. Under the current legislation, the Administration of the Parliament of the Republic of Albania, as an "independent institution" of the public administration, is part of the civil service. The rules and procedures contained in the Law "For the Civil Servant" are applied in terms of the parliamentary staff recruitment. A specific human resources office, which has the duty to deal with staff recruitment on the basis of a competitive entrance examination, and their further preparation, training and promotion, operates in the Parliament. Civil staff vacancies are by law fulfilled on the basis of an open, merit based entrance competition. However, initially a vacancy is offered to civil servants of a lower or parallel grade, and in the case of failure to ensure the necessary numbers of candidates for the competitive entrance examination, individuals outside the public administration system may join in. The pay, pension, and the working hours in the administration of the Parliament of Albania are not established by specific law. However, they are generally referred to in the law for the higher state administration. The working hours of the parliamentary staff are determined by a special instruction issued by the Secretary General, on the basis of the Labour Code of the Republic of Albania.
2. Under the Constitution, the current legislation and the Rules of Procedure of the Parliament of Albania, the Secretary General is the highest civil servant in the administration of the Parliament of the Republic of Albania. He is appointed to this office in compliance with the law for the civil service after having run in an open, merit based entrance competition. The Secretary General heads, organises and oversees the workload performed by the administration of the Parliament. The structure and organogram of the administration is conceived in conformity with the functions and needs of the Parliament. The structure and organogram of the Parliament is endorsed by the Speaker of the Parliament upon the proposal of the Secretary General.
   
   The administration of the Parliament provides counseling, processes different kinds of materials, and carries out organisational and technical services contributing to the activities of the Parliament and its bodies (the Speaker of the Parliament, the permanent parliamentary committees, the ad hoc committees, and the committees of inquiry), while being politically unbiased.
3. The Secretary General is the person who manages and is responsible for the workload performed by the administration of the Parliament, in general. While preserving the administrative vertical hierarchy, the employees in the departments are primarily accountable to their superiors, and then to the Secretary General. While enjoying some sort of working autonomy in the exercise of their functions, the departments cooperate and coordinate with the other departments of the Parliament, contributing to the achievement of the constitutional legal tasks of the Parliament. The staff of the permanent parliamentary committees are mostly attached to the relevant committees, and consequently, in their everyday routine they mainly receive instructions from the chairmen of the respective committees. In the course of practice, the internal rules of procedure for the civil servants attached to the permanent parliamentary committees outline a long list of functions they should discharge, making sure that they maintain their political impartiality.
4. The Parliament of the Republic of Albania has 140 members. The Parliament holds two sittings annually. The first sitting starts on the third Monday of January and the second sitting on the first Monday of September. The date for the conclusion of a sitting, and the time for the beginning of the new sitting are announced by the Speaker of the Parliament.
   
   The Parliament takes decisions by a majority vote, with over half of the total number of its members being present, except for cases where the Constitution provides for a qualified majority.
   
   The number of laws examined by the Parliament varies from one year on to the next. Last year (2002), about 137 laws were passed. In the current year, about 138 laws have been adopted so far.
   
   The permanent parliamentary committees examine laws and normative acts with the force of law; conduct studies conceming the effectiveness of the laws in force; examine the different reports and referrals submitted by the ministries and the leaders of the central departments; and follow up and oversee the performance of the ministries and other state bodies according to the respective areas.
   
   The permanent parliamentary committees observe the parliamentary procedures outlined in the Rules of Procedure of the Parliament. The Speaker of the Parliament is entitled to see to it that the permanent parliamentary committees observe the Rules of Procedure of the Parliament respected.
   
   
   The administration of the various bodies in the Parliament makes its own contribution as provided by in the Rules for the Administration.
5. In the law making process, the administration of the Parliament contribute their opinions, and provide advice on the observance of parliamentary procedures. The Section of Scientific Research and Library obtains the necessary documents and hands them out to the Members of Parliaments and the staff involved in the examination of bills. The administration of the Parliament cooperate with experts from the executive focused on the preparation of bills, so as to provide them with additional feedback on the bills. The administration of the Parliament contribute written opinions on the constitutional and legal aspects of the bills submitted to the Parliament for approval. In this aspect, the Juridical Department gives its independent opinion concerning the procedural aspect of the examination of bills, if formulations contained in the bills run counter to the normative acts or human rights norms ratified by Albania, as well as proposals or remarks concernng law making. This referral is always handed out to the relevant parliamentary committees, and those Members of Parliament seeking the opinion of this Department.
6. With the signing of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement earlier this year, Albania embarked on the European integration process. On the political level, the Parliament has set up a Specific Parliamentary Committee for Integration, which politically monitors all the aspects of the association and stabilisation process. On the legal level, a specific legal unit whose task is to ensure the compatibility of the Albanian legislation with that of the European Union, is set up in the Ministry for Integration. The Parliament has not yet established a structure to conduct the juridical oversight of the bills in this aspect, too.
   
   In the framework of cooperation between the Parliament and the OSCE, a project of cooperation has already started of which main element is the establishment of an independent, powerful unit manned by highly trained professionals to be involved in scientific research in the administration of the Parliament. Technical assistance to be delivered under the said project will help improve the quality of the service the civil staff provides to the Parliament, its constitutional structures and the Members of Parliament, in general.