Personal and material scope

• Author: Irma Baraku
• Pages: 34-47

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3 PERSONAL AND MATERIAL SCOPE

3.1 Personal scope

3.1.1 EU a nd non -EU nat ionals (Recit al 13 and Article 3(2), Directive 2000/43

and Recital 12 and Article 3(2), Directive 2000/78)

In Albania, there are no residence or citizenship/nationality requirements for protection

under the relevant national laws transposing the directives.

Article 16(1) of the Constitution provides that ‘th e fundamental rights and freedoms and

the duties contemplated in this Constitution for Albanian citizens are also valid for

foreigners and stateless persons in the territory of the Republic of A lbania, except for

cases when the Constitution specifically attaches the exercise of particular rights and

freedoms with Albanian citizenship.’ Therefore, the Constitution provides for a legal

reserve for the exemption from specific rights. Based on this constitutional provision, the

Law No. 152/2013 on civil servan ts, under Article 21 on the general requirements for

admission to the civil service, provides that ci tizenship is a specific requirement to be

part of the public administration as a civil service.93

The provisions of the Law on the People’s Advocate also apply to the protection of

foreigners’ rights, including the rights of refugees, asylum seekers and stateless

persons.94

Article 4 of the LPD states:

‘1. This law is applicable to all persons who live and stay in the territory of the

Republic of Albania.

2. Albanian citizens with a temporary or permanent residence outside the borders

of the Republic of Albania enjoy the protection that this law offers in their relations

with the organs of the Albanian state.

3. Natural and legal foreign persons with a residence, domicile or headquarters

outside the territory of the Republic of Albania enjoy the protection that this law

offers in their relations with the organs of the Alban ian state.’

3.1.2 Natural and legal persons (Recital 16, Directive 2000/43 )

a) Protection against discrimination

In Albania, the personal scope of the Law on protection from discrimination (LP D) covers

natural persons for the purpose of protection against discriminat ion.

- The L PD provid es the right of ‘a p erson or gr oup of persons’ to make a complaint

(Article 33(1)) but does not define the concept of ‘person’ or ‘group of persons’ ;

- Article 4(2) provides protection from discrimination for Albanian citizens with a

temporary or permanent residence outside the borders of Albania in their relations

with the organs of the Albanian state.

The LPD is silent about the personal scope of anti- discrimination law regarding Albanian

legal subjects.

- Article 4(1) provid es that ‘this law is applies to all persons who live an d stay in the

territory of the Republic of Albania’, without defining the concept of ‘person’.

93 Law No. 152/2013 on civil servants (Për shërbimin civil), as amended.

94 Law No. 8454/1999 on the People’s Advocate, as amended.