"The Governor should have immunity from arrest"/ Bank of Albania's proposal

2026-07-17 10:48:00, Aktualitet CNA

"The Governor should have immunity from arrest"/ Bank of

The new Law "On the Bank of Albania" is expected to grant the Governor and Deputy Governors of the Bank of Albania immunity from arrest.

According to Article 72 of the draft law drafted by the Bank of Albania and officially submitted for consultation by the Ministry of Finance, the Governor and Deputy Governors cannot be arrested or deprived of liberty in any form, nor be subject to personal or home search, without the authorization of the Constitutional Court. The only exceptions are cases when they are caught red-handed or while being pursued immediately after committing a crime.

In order to arrest or search the residence of the above officials, the prosecutor in the case must immediately request authorization from the Constitutional Court.

The draft law stipulates that the Constitutional Court must decide on the authorization within two weeks from the date the case is submitted to it. If the Constitutional Court does not decide within this time limit, the request for authorization will be considered rejected.

Such legal protection for the Governor is not common in most European and European Union legislation. For example, in Germany, Italy, France, Belgium, Great Britain, etc. the Governor of the Central Bank can be arrested without seeking the authorization of any other national institution.

The only immunity enjoyed by Governors relates to their functions as members of the Governing Council of the European Central Bank (for EU member states). In this case, the prosecution must seek the authorisation of the European Central Bank, but only for charges relating to their functions as members of the ECB Council and not for charges relating to private sphere activities, such as, for example, corruption charges.

Albania has a precedent with the arrest of the acting Governor.

In September 2014, the Governor, Ardian Fullani, was arrested on charges of abuse of office, following the scandal of the embezzlement of 713 million lek in the Currency Issuance Department of the Bank of Albania. However, at the end of the trial he was declared innocent of the charges brought by the Prosecution. Following the declaration of innocence, Fullani also won financial compensation in court for his dismissal from office.

Meanwhile, in 1993, another Governor of the Bank of Albania, Ilir Hoti, was arrested on charges of abuse of office, but the arrest took place a few months after leaving office.

Currently, Albanian legislation recognizes immunity for the President of the Republic, the Prime Minister, ministers, members of parliament, and judges of the Constitutional Court.

For most of these officials, the authorization to lift immunity is granted by the Assembly. The exceptions are the President, for whom the Parliament's decision must be confirmed by the Constitutional Court, and the judge of the Constitutional Court, for whom the authorization must be granted by this same institution.

The proposed draft law "On the Bank of Albania" gives the Constitutional Court the right to authorize the arrest of the Governor, bypassing the Parliament from this process. /Monitor