The alignment of the Albanian Criminal Code with international standards on domestic violence

Abstract

Aligning Albanian laws with international norms was one of the responsibilities of the new democratic state that emerged in the early 1990s following the fall of the communist regime. Modeled on more developed democracies, the new Criminal Code of the Republic of Albania was adopted in 1995. As a newly formed democratic state, Albania has needed to update and modify this code over time to comply with international agreements to which it is a party. The Council of Europe's Istanbul Convention on Preventing and Combating Domestic Violence and Violence Against Women is one significant example. Some organizations, such as UN Women and the Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, have assessed that the Albanian Criminal Code does not fully reflect the requirements of this Convention. Through descriptive and comparative analysis, this paper seeks to identify the shortcomings in the Republic of Albania's Criminal Code regarding the criminalization of domestic violence and to offer specific suggestions for change.