A meeting was held between the Chairwoman of the Assembly of Republic of Albania, Ms. Elisa Spiropali, with the heads of independent institutions. Also present at this event was the Information and Data Protection Commissioner, Mr. Besnik Dervishi. In his speech, Mr. Dervishi emphasized the importance of strengthening cooperation and interaction with the Assembly, the permanent parliamentary Committees, and the Monitoring Service for Independent Institutions.

“I believe there are opportunities for both long-term interventions that require the necessary time for implementation, as well as immediate interventions that improve the situation and status of independent institutions. We have discussed this issue before; we still rely on a law that is partially repealed and partially outdated, Law No. 9584/2006 ‘On the salaries, rewards, and structures of constitutional independent institutions and other independent institutions established by law,’ which I believe is highly bureaucratic, not only for independent institutions but also for the Assembly itself. Undertaking a new initiative, based on the reports of EU experts, I believe would greatly help not only in debureaucratizing some outdated processes but would also contribute to independent institutions achieving EU standards. I assess that budgetary requests remain a priority for us, as an institution cannot function without financial and human resources.

In the context of the process we are developing in the Assembly, I believe that we, as institutions, have not only the opportunity to report but also to be heard by the committees responsible for issues we consider important. This is an opportunity that we should take more advantage of. I believe that an amendment to the Assembly’s Rules of Procedure could be made, so that during the reporting process, when questions or discussions arise that often stray from the scope of institutional activity, we are given the chance—not to respond—but to provide our final conclusions on the discussions held. I think this improvement to the Assembly’s Rules would benefit all independent institutions. Additionally, I hope that this meeting, this forum, can be held not only in this format but, for example, also with specific groups of independent institutions whose fields of activity or nature of work are closely related to one another, such as the National Institutions for Human Rights, regulatory bodies, etc” – said Mr. Dervishi.