Digital Property and Civil Law: Navigating legal challenges and opportunities in Albania’s evolving legal framework

• Pages: 42-56

42

Vol.10 No.3

December, 2024

Balkan Journal of

Interdisciplinary Research

E-ISSN 2411-9725

ISSN 2410-759X

Digital Property and Civil Law: Navigating legal challenges and

opportunities in Albania’s evolving legal framework

PhD (C.) Sindi Caushi

Faculty of Law, University of Tirana, Albania

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/bjir-2024-0024

Abstract

In the rapidly evolving landscape of the digital age, the concept of property has expanded

beyond traditional physical assets to include intangible forms of ownership such as digital

property. This transformation presents signicant challenges for civil law, especially in Albania,

where legal frameworks have struggled to keep pace with technological advances. This article

explores the denition of digital assets, focusing on the assessments that organizations, law

institutions or states have made regarding the disposition, transfer and protection of these

assets. The article examines how Albanian civil law, rooted in traditional notions of property

and inheritance, addresses issues related to digital rights, including digital asset management,

digital tokens, and broader applications within blockchain ecosystems. Through an analysis

of national and international legal perspectives, the article identies the main challenges in

adapting existing laws to the challenging complexity of digital ownership. It also proposes

possible mechanisms to ensure the eective integration of digital property within Albania’s

legal system, drawing on legislative models from other countries.

By bridging the gap between technology and law, this manuscript aims to provide insight into

how Albania can navigate the legal complexities of digital property and protect individual

rights in an increasingly digital world.

Keywords: digital assets, property, inheritance, blockchain.

1. Introduction

Property is one of the most important concepts in civil law, playing a crucial role in

regulating economic and social relations. The Civil Code of the Republic of Albania

denes the concept of ownership in Article 149: “Ownership is the right to freely enjoy

and dispose of things within the limits set by law”. The object of property rights includes

all things, whether movable or immovable. A thing constitutes everything that can

form the object of a right; it is any external object that, when subject to human control,

can bring economic benet to the person exercising their right over it (Nathanaili,

Research Article

© 2024 Sindi Caushi

This is an open access article licensed under the Creative Commons

Aribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

(hps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/)