December 2020 – In this policy paper, we argue that the Parliament of Albania, in its capacity as the overseer of both the executive and the independent institutions, should play a more active role in pressuring the executive to respond to the recommendations issued by independent institutions that contribute to good governance and promote the public interest.
To scrutinize the relationship between the Parliament and independent institutions it is useful to distinguish between (1) the implementation of recommendations issued by independent institutions to the executive; and (2) the implementation of recommendations issued by the Parliament to independent institutions. Our research covers mainly the period after the establishment of the joint inter-institutional mechanism and focuses on a sample of 4 out of the 21 independent institutions in Albania.
The selected institutions include the Supreme State Audit (SSA), the Ombudsman, the Commissioner for Information and Personal Data Protection (CIPDP), and the Commissioner for Protection against Discrimination (CPD). These independent institutions were selected as they cover important areas of public interest, such as public finance management and human rights. They are also among the most consolidated bodies and are closer to the public given that their recommendations or reports are often communicated to the public through the media.
Click to download the English and Albanian version of the policy paper.
This document was prepared by the Institute for Democracy and Mediation with the support of Hanns Seidel Foundation Albania. Any opinion or views expressed in this project belongs to the implementing organization and does not necessarily represent the views of the Foundation.