Veliaj deposed Rama/ Constitutional Court decision revealed

2025-11-03 19:11:00, Aktualitet CNA

The Constitutional Court dismissed Prime Minister Edi Rama, accepting Erion Veliaj's appeal for his dismissal from office.

Veliaj defeated Prime Minister Edi Rama with a vote of 5 in favor and 3 against by members of the Constitutional Court.

Rama politically dismissed him at the SP Assembly by ordering the Municipal Council to initiate procedures for his dismissal.

The Municipal Council met on September 23rd and decided in favor of Veliaj's dismissal. On the 25th, his dismissal was approved at a government meeting.

Meanwhile, the Constitutional Court's decision on Veliaj's appeal has been made public.

The full decision of the Constitutional Court

The Constitutional Court on 03.11.2025 considered the case with the applicant Erion Veliaj, with the aim of repealing the decision no. 539/2025 of the Council of Ministers on his dismissal from the office of Mayor of Tirana; repealing the decree no. 350/2025, of the President of the Republic on setting the date of the partial local elections for mayor, for the part that sets the date of the local elections in the Municipality of Tirana, as well as the suspension of the effects of this decree.

The Court initially assessed, unanimously, that it has jurisdiction to review the Council Decision No. 539/2025, since Article 115, point 2, of the Constitution has given it the competence to review the decision to dismiss the mayor as a directly elected body of local government. This competence was given to the Court in order to protect the principle of local autonomy and the right to elect and to be elected.

In terms of Article 115, point 1, of the Constitution, the dismissal from office of a directly elected body of a local government unit is a constitutional concept.

The Court also emphasized that in its jurisprudence to date, it has excluded from constitutional jurisdiction only the case of the end of the mandate of the mayor according to Articles 6/1 and 179/1 of the Constitution (the decriminalization process), while in all other cases of dismissal, as in the present case, it has accepted its jurisdiction to review appeals against decisions of the Council of Ministers on the dismissal from office of directly elected bodies of the local government unit. The Court reiterated that what the Constitution did not want to say, the law cannot say, because otherwise there is the possibility of limiting by law the constitutional guarantees of the elected body of local government, which, in essence, limits its own competence. The Court is the body that has the competence to control the decision of the Council of Ministers on the dismissal of the directly elected body, the basis of which in the Constitution and law is assessed only by this Court, which has the final say.

With regard to the applicant's claims, the Court examined them on the merits within the framework of the regular process related to the measure of dismissal, with the exception of the claim for the presumption of innocence which it ruled to dismiss. At this point, the Court considered it necessary to emphasize that the examination and assessment of the case concerns only the process of dismissal of the applicant from the office of Mayor of Tirana, and not the criminal proceedings registered against him.

In the circumstances when it accepted the Constitutional Council Decision No. 539/2025 into its constitutional jurisdiction, the Court, based on its jurisprudence, in relation to the right to due process, examines cases of dismissal of the elected local government body as a trial on the merits of the case, acting as a court of fact and law, analyzing the constitutionality and legality of the process and the act. Essentially, the Court examines whether the cause of dismissal constitutes a serious violation of the Constitution and the laws and whether the Council of Ministers has respected the procedures to fully motivate and justify the dismissal decision.

The Court considered that Article 62 of Law No. 139/2015 is a detail of Article 115, point 1, of the Constitution. This constitutional norm has not delegated to the ordinary legislator the provision of cases for dismissal other than those defined therein, which relate to the serious violation of the Constitution and laws. In this regard, three judges held the position that all the provisions of letters “a”, “b” and “c” of Article 62 of Law No. 139/2015 have been adopted by the legislator in the sense of the constitutional delegation of Article 115 of the Constitution.

The court, by majority vote, assessed that the procedure followed in the specific case by the municipal council and further by the Council of Ministers, by not notifying the applicant, did not guarantee his right to due process in aspects of the right to be heard and to be defended.

The Court emphasized that due process requires the fulfillment of the individual's procedural guarantees, which constitute an obligation of the public bodies that carry out the process and in no case can the burden be shifted from these bodies to the individual. In this sense, merely receiving knowledge of the date of the municipal council meeting does not release the public body from guaranteeing all the obligations as above.

Likewise, the Court, by majority vote, held that the Council of Ministers, when deciding to dismiss the applicant from office under Article 62, letter “c”, of Law No. 139/2015, did not justify the dismissal with a serious violation of the Constitution and laws, for which he could be held liable. On this point, the Court emphasized that the protection of the public interest in guaranteeing the right of voters to be governed by a directly elected body cannot justify the violation of constitutional guarantees.

For these reasons, the Court, by majority vote, found that the applicant's right to due process related to the dismissal measure was violated, therefore it decided to repeal DCM No. 539/2025.

With regard to the decree of the President of the Republic, the Court emphasized that, insofar as the review of the dismissal from office of a local government body under Article 115, paragraph 2, of the Constitution falls within constitutional jurisdiction, the review of acts of public authority issued as a result and due to the decision to dismiss and create a vacancy, such as the decree of the President of the Republic, also falls within constitutional jurisdiction. Consequently, the Court considers that there is no need to follow the rules on the exhaustion of remedies in the administrative court, under Article 131, paragraph 1, letter “f” of the Constitution.

Having repealed the Council of Ministers Decision No. 539/2025, in order to remedy the consequences arising from the decree of the President of the Republic setting the date of the elections in the Municipality of Tirana, in consideration of Article 115, point 3, of the Constitution, the Court decided to repeal this decree as well, as it is an act issued to fill the vacancy created by the Council of Ministers for the dismissal of the applicant.

At the conclusion of the examination of this case, for the above reasons, the Court decided, by majority vote:

Acceptance of the request.

Repeal of decision no. 539, dated 25.09.2025 of the Council of Ministers "On the dismissal from office of the Mayor of Tirana, Mr. Erion Veliaj", as incompatible with the Constitution of the Republic of Albania.

Repeal of the decree of the President of the Republic No. 350, dated 01.10.2025 “On setting the date of partial local elections for mayors, for some local government units” for the part that sets the date of local elections in the Municipality of Tirana, as incompatible with paragraphs 2 and 3 of article 115 of the Constitution.

Continuation of the measure of suspension of the decree of the President of the Republic No. 350, dated 01.10.2025 "On setting the date of partial local elections for mayors, for some local government units" for the part that sets the date of local elections in the Municipality of Tirana, until the entry into force of this decision.

The final decision will be announced with reasons within the legal deadlines provided for by Law No. 8577, dated 10.02.2000 “On the Organization and Functioning of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Albania”, as amended by the Regulation on Judicial Procedures of the Constitutional Court./ CNA