10-11.04.2025 - Training activity: “The guarantee of the integrity of elections, prosecution, investigation and judgment of electoral crimes”

The School of Magistrates, in cooperation with the Council of Europe, in Tiranë, on 10 - 11 April, 2025, had the training activity on topic: “The guarantee of the integrity of elections, prosecution, investigation and judgment of electoral crimes.” 

The purpose of this training is: 

To contribute in the consolidation of the capacities of prosecutors and of judges regarding electoral crimes, based not only on standards and international practice but also on domestic practice to provide a more efficient prosecution, investigation and judgment of electoral crimes, considering the importance of these criminal offenses in the integrity of electoral processes and in the democracy of a country. 

In this training activity were elaborated different topics, such as: 

• Challenges and the best practices in this ground; 
• Essential inter-institutional cooperation to have a more efficient investigation; 
• Collection and storing of evidences; 
• Burden of evidence; 
• Investigation techniques and instruments; 
• Some of the problematic issues that have to be considered in the analysis of financial reports of political parties starting from the main forms of violations that are evidenced in this ground; 
• Principles for an impartial trial within a reasonable time of such offenses. 

The training activity was welcomed by the director of the School of Magistrates, Mr. Arben Rakipi, who emphasized the importance of the training on certain topics, underlining that these issues should not be treated only in periods of electoral campaigns. He also expressed the desire that this system of trainings is enlarged even in other fields, underlining the importance that evidenced problems have in such trainings, specifically legal vacuums that should be addressed and reflected in the new Criminal Code.  

Apart of experienced experts of the Council of Europe and the School of Magistrates, in this activity participated even representatives from the Central Electoral Commission who are responsible for the financial monitoring of electoral subjects and the monitoring of electoral campaigns to share their experience with participants, as well as prosecutors of the general and specific jurisdiction of the Republic of Albania.