Meeting with the Secretary General of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, Mr. Andreas Kiefer, Janurary 15, 2015

On January 16, 2015, the Secretary General of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, Mr. Andreas Kiefer, was received in an official meeting in the Constitutional Court of Albania, by Mr. Sokol Berberi, member of the Constitutional Court, and Mr. Kujtim Osmani, Secretary General of the Court, and Mrs. Elsa Toska, legal adviser to the President of the Court.

Mr. Kiefer made a presentation of the Congress as a body of the Council of Europe, which has the mission to observe and report on the activity of local authorities, including local elections, in countries members of the Council, and to give recommendations with the aim of improving the situation.

During the meeting Mr. Berberi clarified the Constitutional Court's position on issues of local governance, explaining that the Constitutional Court in its decisions has considered the protection of warranty of local government autonomy and the respect of the European Charter for Local Self-Government, and this is made also to create a culture in the preservation of local autonomy.

Mr. Kiefer was in Tirana in the framework of the project "Strengthening local government structures and co-operation of local elected representatives in Albania.”