In the framework of the campaign against violence against women, the Speaker of the Parliament Gramoz Ruçi, addressed a letter to the heads of Justice and Police for the implementation of legislation against violence against women and girls. 
 

The letter was addressed to Naureda Llagami, Chairwoman of the High Judicial Council; Gent Ibrahimi, Chairman of the High Prosecutorial Council; Olsian Çela, General Prosecutor; and Ardi Veliu, General Director of the State Police. 

"'Parliament of Albania, in December 2017, adopted the Resolution "On the condemnation of violence against women and girls and increase the effectiveness of legal mechanisms for its prevention.'

Violence against women and girls, as one of the prevalent forms of violence, is a global phenomenon that affects all countries, societies, religious and ethnic communities. Preventing and combating violence against women and girls is a prerequisite for sustainable, equitable and inclusive development, as well as an important value and objective of today's civilization. 

In recent years, in our country, there have been positive developments regarding the drafting or improvement of legislation against domestic violence, which have significantly improved the way institutions treat cases of violence against women and girls and domestic violence. 
 

But, despite the positive developments, the data on cases of violence against women and domestic violence, show that violence is still present and manifests itself in various forms up to the most extreme, where the victims are mostly women and children. According to the GREVIO report, the biggest weaknesses affecting referral mechanisms relate to the lack of proper enforcement of protection orders and prompt execution protection orders, inadequate responses from the court system and insufficient involvement of health professionals, including forensic doctors.

Albanian Parliament notes that the justice system (police, prosecution, courts, social services in the criminal justice system) has not been sufficiently effective in investigating and reviewing cases of domestic violence and the proper implementation of the legal provisions of the Criminal Code for punishing perpetrators and providing services to victims. 

Although the holistic approach against violence against women cannot be relied on in the criminal justice system alone, the courts need to be in line with the legislator's determined stance against violence and provide a strong response, including penalties. This would encourage further reporting of domestic violence cases. 

Although there has been a clear improvement in compliance with the deadlines for requests for protection orders, court hearings for their certification and issuance are still unnecessarily postponed. Speed ​​and compliance with deadlines is an essential element of adjudication for protection orders, non-compliance with which leads to a loss of meaning of the law against domestic violence and may endanger victims. 

In these circumstances, I ask you to take the necessary measures for the rigorous implementation of the provisions of the Criminal Code on domestic violence and violence against women," wrote in his letter Gramoz Ruçi.