The Constitutional Court with Decision no. 4, dated o8.03.2021 has decided:

Nullification as incompatible with the Constitution of Article 7, point 2, letters “a” and “b” of Law No. 133/2015, “On the treatment of property and the completion of the process of compensation of property“.

Nullification as incompatible with the Constitution of points 16/2, 16/4 and 18 of DCM no. 223, dated 23.3.2016, “On determining the rules and procedures for the evaluation and distribution of financial and physical funds for property compensation”, amended.

Rejection of the request for other researches.

The obligation of the Albanian Parliament to supplement the law from the date of the announcement of the Constitutional Court decision until its entry into force.

This decision is final and enters into force 6 months after its publication in the Official Gazette.

This decision was announced on 08.03.2021 and was published in the Official Gazette no. 37, dated 11.01.2021 and enters into force on 12.07.2021.

The Constitutional Court has considered the above issue with the applicant National Association “Ownership with Justice” claiming that certain provisions of law no. 133/2015 and some bylaws in its implementation violate the principles and standards of the Constitution and the ECHR. According to the applicant, the impugned provisions violate the principle of proportionality of the interference with the right to private property, as in the provisions of Articles 6 and 7, we are dealing with the concept of a “new expropriation”.

The Court has assessed and interpreted the fair remuneration regarding the constitutional concepts related to the public interest, as well as the observance of the principles of justice, proportionality and the welfare state. In terms of these standards, the Court has assessed that the methodology and formula provided by law no. 133/2015 interfere with the property right sanctioned in Article 41 of the Constitution, and brings a lower level of compensation for expropriated entities, which is considered as “another intervention” in the right to private property.

In this regard, the Court considers that this compensation measure must respect a certain level, in order not to lead to the denial of the right to private property and to be in accordance with the intervention criteria within the meaning of Articles 41 and 17 of the Constitution. The current property appraisal system does not in all cases respect the minimum threshold of 10% of the financial appraisal and there is a disproportionate intervention in property rights.

In order to give the legislator sufficient time to approve the new legal rules in accordance with its decision, the court, considers that the Assembly must complete the law No. 133/2015 within the 6-month period.