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New Drive to Tackle Corruption in Albania
Real estate news By Ergys Gjencaj
Oct 9, 2007
Suzana belongs to a section of Albanian society often referred to as “owners without property”. As she talks about her long legal battles her expression becomes sombre and she gazes into the distance. “I am the granddaughter of Muharrem Bajram Demneri, a family name as old as the city of Tirana. When we learned that we had inherited property [in Tirana], we also discovered that everyone wanted a piece of it, as it is centrally located,” she explains She has been fighting for her inheritance for the last 10 years. The land that was returned to her family, more than half a century after having been expropriated by the communist regime in 1944, has since been occupied illegally by somebody else.
For Suzana, as for thousands of others, trying to enforce her legal right through recourse to the courts has been a fraught, and hitherto fruitless, exercise. Judicial reform has been high on the political agenda for several years and is a major prerequisite for Albania’s integration in the EU. However, the constant battle between ruling and opposition parties for control of independent institutions has had a negative impact on judicial reform – each side suspects the other’s motives.
Albania entered the 1990s still suffering from the effects of 50 years under one of the most repressive regimes in the old eastern bloc. After the fall of the iron curtain the country found itself with few functioning independent institutions. Under the rule of former dictator Enver Hoxha, the judicial system operated as a tool of state repression. Though the collapse of the communist regime in 1991 set this branch of government on the road to reform, political interference and corruption remain endemic. Newly-elected President Bamir Topi has launched a fresh effort to gather support for judicial reform, but this will be an uphill battle in light of Albania’s divisive political atmosphere. Suzana’s story is not unusual – thousands of Albanians face a prolonged struggle in the courts to gain possession of property that legally belongs to them. They may continue to struggle in vain unless the judicial system is overhauled.
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