Opening of the Judicial Year of the European Court of Human Rights, Strasbourg, France, 27 January 2017.

Upon invitation of President of the European Court of Human Rights, Mr. Guido Raimondi, a delegation of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Albania, composed of Mr. Bashkim Dedja, President of the Constitutional Court, and Mrs. Alma Çomo, Director of Public and International Relations, attended the Solemn Opening of the Judicial Year 2017 of the European Court of Human Rights, as well as the seminar organized on this occasion, on the theme: “Non-refoulement as a principle of international law and the role of the judiciary in its implementation. " The seminar was followed by two workshops on "Assessing the credibility of asylum seekers: the burden of proof and the ECHR review constraints", and "The reception of migrants: material and procedural warranties for established migrants".

 

During the visit of the Albanian delegation in Strasbourg, the President of the Constitutional Court of Albania, Mr. Bashkim Dedja, was received in a special official meeting by the President of the European Court of Human Rights, Mr. Guido Raimondi. President Dedja made a brief description of the recent developments regarding the comprehensive reform of the justice system in Albania; the changes in the Law on the organization and functioning of the Constitutional Court of Albania, mainly in terms of expanding the individual's access to this court, which would lead to a significant reduction of applications before the European Court of Human Rights; the most recent decisions of the Constitutional Court of Albania, etc.

On his part, President Raimondi, after speaking about the importance of the effective implementation of the European Convention on Human Rights at the national level, also highlighted the importance, the priorities and the progress of the Supreme Court Network which aims at promoting the cooperation and the exchange of information between the ECHR and the national superior courts concerning the jurisprudence of the Convention.

This meeting was attended also by Mr. Ledi Bianku, the judge at the European Court of Human Rights in respect of Albania, and Mr. Roderick Liddell, Registrar.