Open LGP Albania Project presented at Personal Forum Democracy, Poland 2016

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The Personal Forum Democracy 2016 took place on 17 and 18 March in Gdansk, Poland, for Central and Eastern Europe (PFD 2016). This forum is led every year in Poland as an effort of the civil society to use technology for democratization and civil engagement. The speakers and workshop moderators this year focused on how we can bring people together to encourage public debate. Citizens’ participation, use of technology for transparency, and awareness through open are subject to dozens of civil society programs in Central and Eastern European countries.

The PFD 2016 included also a presentation of AIS Project on monitoring local government public procurement and contracts, i.e. Open Local Government Procurement (OpenLGP). The presentation was part of the Monitoring Procurements – Experiences from Albania and Hungary workshop. The three moderators of this workshop were Shefiko HAJNA from AIS, Anita KONSCIK from K-Monitor, and Eva MEQEMEJA from AIS. The two models and portals developed by the civil society in Albania and Hungary provide instruments for citizens to monitor how their governments procure works, services, or purchases, using public money. Making tenders transparent and easy to be monitored by the citizens, each program leads also to taxpayers being involved in checking for accountability. The data opened regarding public procurement carry clear and comprehensive information about values, deadlines, quality of competition, and subject of procurements. The information reveals also the areas and contracts, which pose a risk of abuse or corruption. The workshop was attended by a great number of participants. The regional organizations showed an interest in getting involved in the process of opening information for Open Procurements and Open Contracting.

This presentation held in the context of the Personal Forum Democracy 2016 precedes a workshop focused on Civil Monitoring of Public Procurements and Contracts for the countries of the region (Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, etc.), which is going to be held in July in Tirana. Our program OpenLGP is being developed as an efforts for open data and civil monitoring with the support of the National Endowment for Democracy NED.

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Java e Interneti 2016 / Get Online Week 2016

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Fuqizohu, Punësohu

Instituti Shqiptar i Shkencave në partneritet me Telecentre Europe organizon për të pestin vit në Shqipëri  fushatën vjetore Get Online Week për fuqizimin dixhital. Ky event mbahet ne datat 14 deri 20 Mars në mbarë Europën.

Qëllim i kësaj fushate është nxitja dhe aftësimi i sa më shumë personave në përdorimin e internetit. Në fokus janë moshat e reja dhe edukimi i përdorimit të internetit për punësim dhe edukim cilësore. Në Europë tregu i punës kërkon çdo ditë me mijëra profesionist që njohin internetin dhe teknologjinë. Por ndërsa kërkesa për punë me pagesë të mirë është e kënaqshme, njerëzit që kanë aftësi të punojnë janë më pak se kërkesa. Kjo Javë Promovuese synon ti nxis Europianët të Fuqizohen dhe Punësohen në këtë treg pune.

Në Shqipëri kjo javë do të shënojë trajnimin e të rinjve të shkollave të mesme publike dhe studentëve; aplikimin e një sondazhi që ndihmon të kuptojë sa e përdorin internetin grupmoshat dhe profesionet e ndryshme si dhe mjaft evente mediatike që promovojnë aftësimin profesional në teknologjinë e informacionit.

gow2016

 

AIS vs. SP, SMI, and DP over Electoral Spending Transparency. AIS request the Administrative Court of Appeal to accelerate the court proceedings

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In the context of the court proceedings and our efforts to force the political parties to provide the public with real time (during the election) data about the Financing of their Electoral Campaign, we are sharing with you some information about the latest developments.

Thus, AIS has filed a request with the Administrative Court of Appeal, asking it to: Abrogate of Decision no. 44, dated 22.07.2015 of the Commissioner for the Right to Information and Protection of Personal Data.  Force the political parties to give the complainant (AIS) the information about the financing of their electoral campaign requested on 09.06.2015.

The complainant in this process is: AIS, a non-profitable organization.

Defendants include: the Commissioner for the Right to Information, DP, SP, and SMI.

The case is registered with the court on 18.01.2016. The announcement of the Decision of the Court of First Instance, and the Transfer of the Case File to the Administrative Court of Appeal were delayed by two months. The court has drawn a lot, as a result of which the case is assigned to Judge Artur Malaj. Pending the court decision, AIS is afraid of potential prolongation and delays as a result of the technical workload of the administrative court.

In this context, AIS notes that the purpose of this court case, and the importance it has for the public interest requires the case to be adjudicated in due time, and without years-long prolongation. If the adjudication is prolonged and not finalized before the start of the next electoral campaign (2017), the purpose of the case and its adjudication are no longer important or relevant. In addition, a final interpretation and court decision would contribute to the process of debate and work for potential legal amendments in the framework of the Electoral Reform scheduled to be made and finalized within 2016.

Therefore, AIS in its capacity as the complainant in this court case, addressed the Administrative Court of Appeal, its Chief Judge Kastriot Selita, the case rapporteur, Judge Artur Malaj, and asked them to accelerate the court trial to as a short timeframe as possible.

 

Let me also remind you that our claim to real-time information about the financing of the electoral parties is based on Article 9 of the Constitution, point 3 “The financial resources of the political parties and their spending shall always be made public”.

 

Please find below a copy of the request made to the Administrative Court of Appeal for an Acceleration of Trial

Request for acceleration of adjudication

Copy of the second  request made to the Administrative Court of Appeal for an Acceleration of Trial

Second request for acceleration of adjudication

Albania ranked in 37th position in the Global Open Data Index 2015

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In the Global Open Data Index recently published, Albania  holds the 37th position in the ranking. Such positioning shows that the country has less open data compared to other European countries like: Norway, Netherlands, France Romania, Bulgaria, Denmark, Italy, Moldova, Poland, Germany, Switzerland and even Kosovo . Meanwhile Albania left behind Luxembourg, Portugal, Slovakia, Greece, Turkey, Macedonia Georgia. Taiwan  holds the first place in the Index. The European countries with the best performance are Britain, Denmark and Finland, while the United States maintain the 8th position.

The openness of official data for the main databases in Albania is at 42%. Satisfying indicators show the data on National Statistics and Public Budget. While the information over Public Procurement and Weather forecast it is low or there is lack of data. Global Open Data Index was conducted by the Open Knowledge Foundation Network and for Albania the assessment was organized by AIS staff and associates.

Transparent data about the assets of high officials in the Justice System

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The Spending Data Albania portal has published some data about the assets and economic interests of some high officials of the Justice System under its Money and Power section.

Thus, you may find the latest annual incomes of the three Presidents of the Republic, i.e. Mr. Rexhep MEIDANI, Mr. Alfred MOISIU, and Mr. Bamir TOPI, by using the search filter in the ‘President of the Republic’ category.

http://www.spending.data.al/sq/moneypower/list/pos_id/2

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You may also find the Declaration of Assets of the two latest General Prosecutors, i.e. Ms. Ina RAMA and Mr. Thedhori SOLLAKU, by using the search filter for ‘General Prosecutor’

http://www.spending.data.al/sq/moneypower/list/pos_id/3

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In the same section, you may also find the official declarations of assets of some judges of the high level and judges of the Court for Serious Crimes. This data section is enriched as part of the activities organized by the Albanian Institute of Science (AIS) for the implementation of Money Government &Politics Program (MG&P).

Local Government Law. The Election Situation Room against three mandates for locally elected officials

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Tirana, 15 December 2015

The Election Situation Room has asked the Assembly of Albania not to change the original draft law on local government, which restricted the time in office of locally elected officials to 2 mandates.

The latest decision to increase the number of mandates to 3 is considered a regress by the Election Room. According to the representatives of this Room, this decision is a move backward, because all the mayors, who had won a third mandate, were actually criminally prosecuted for abusing their power.

Gerti Shella (INFOCIP): The Albanian experience with the local government dictates today more than ever the need to restrict the mandates of locally elected officials to two. At the beginning of this year only, the mayors of the most important cities, who had already two mandates each, and ran for a third one, were criminally prosecuted for misuse of duty and corruption. Those prosecuted included also tens of commune mayors.

Aranita Brahaj (AIS and Za’Lart Albania 2015): The observation of election situations in the 2015 local government elections showed that where the existing mayors reran in these elections, there were higher expenses and more cases of misused of the public administration for purposes of electoral campaign. The Za’Lart platform received reports from citizens about problems with the transfer of voters’ names on the civil register. In municipalities, where existing mayors reran, there were also cases of pressure being exercised to intimidate voters through public services, violating thus the principles of fair competition among the candidates. Therefore, the law should not tolerate the use of power for such a long time.

Kristaq Kume: We are going to use such restrictive mechanisms such as the restriction of the right to be elected to no more than two mandates”

The changing of the original local government draft law is, according to the Election situation Room, against the recommendations made by the international bodies, as well as against the consultation process with the interest groups.

 

  • Title: Election Room against the draft law: Such draft law produced corruption – Top Channel Albania – News – Lajme

Shekulli Newspaper: Election Room – Mayors should be elected for two mandates only

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Ballkanweb: Election Room – Mayors should be elected for two mandates only

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MAPO Newspaper: Declaration of the Civil Society – Draft Law on Local Government makes negative deviation

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Phases of the Court process of AIS vs Political Parties for transparency on electoral financies

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In the framework of its efforts to promote electoral transparency, AIS has appealed at the Administrative Court of Appeal against the decision of the Court of Tirana to dismiss the organization’s request towards the main political parties PD, PS and LSI (two of them in power) to make available their information on campaign spending and donations. Considering this issue the first court case where an entity / organization submitted a claim against the three main political parties

The Constitution of Albania, which brings one of the best models of access to information on election finances with no restriction, discrimination, bureaucratic procedures and institutional intermediaries.

AIS will continue to advocate the judicial position that political parties are subjects to the Public Law, and obliged, based on the Constitution to provide information to the citizens, media and other civil actors. Also, transparency over campaign spending and donations is an essential aspect of free and fair election.

Chronological steps of the process

  1. Official request sent to the three main parties on 09.06.2015
  2. Request based on the Law on right of information and the Constitution
  3. The three parties didn’t replied to the official request of AIS
  4. AIS addressed the issue to the Commissioner for the Right of Information (Mr. Besnik Dervishi), but the claim was dismissed
  5. AIS sued the three political parties in the Administrative Court
  6. The court held three sessions, in which were present only the representatives of the Socialist Party and the Commissioner for the right of Information
  7. The last session held on November 10th the court decided to dismiss the AIS claim
  8. AIS appealed the decision in the Administrative Court of Appeal,
  9. In this process AIS is represented by the Law firm Gumi & Associates
  10. Appeal to the Administrative Court of Appeal
  11. Request for acceleration of adjudication
  12. AIS addresses the Strasbourg Court. Albania does not guarantee trial within a reasonable time (Article 6 of the ECHR)
  13. Administrative Court of Appeal Decision dated 22.11. 2017 with no. 4916 (5236)
  14. AIS addresses the Court of Strasbourg in the absence of both a High Court and a Constitutional Court in the country, asking this court to review the merits of a case, which is now in a process of recourse.

Important Documents of the Court Process:

Request for Information PS                  

Request for Information PD

Request for Information LSI

Complaint for the Commissioner of the right to information

Law suit act                       

Court Call document

Decision of the Administrative Court

Appeal to the Administrative Court of Appeal

Request for acceleration of adjudication

AIS Request to Strasbourg Court (PDF)

Decision Administrative Court of Appeal

Request: AIS addresses the Court of Strasbourg in the absence of both a High Court and a Constitutional Court in the country, asking this court to review the merits of a case, which is now in a process of recourse.

 

 

Invitation for participation: Hackathon Albania 2015 “Life in another city”

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Hackathon Albania is a yearly event organized to celebrate Open Data and promote their use, adoption, and development of new exciting apps. This year, the event takes place on December 19th 2015 with the topic “Life in another city”.

The event is open to individuals, analysts; engineers; (storytellers); scout programmers, designers or students able to develop an application based on Open Data.

How to prepare for the Hackathon (Hacker+Marathon) ?

Everyone can collect data about its city or town (not just digital) and create a map or an application. This edition triggers data analyses and applications of various themes affecting different aspects of life in Albanian cities regarding

  • Economy, employment, enterprises
  • Infrastructure including urban distances, buildings, forests ect.
  • Technological development and Internet access in various cities
  • Demography

All those who would like to participate in this event, may be registered for free in the following link : Hackathon Albania 2015  or join the event on the facebook page of the Albanian Institute of Science

Thank you in advance!

AIS against the Draft Law on Defamation

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AIS as a promoter of Open Data Albania joins the call of BIRN Albania against the Draft Law on the Defamation. This draft law foresees and open the way to the imprisonment of journalists. Any claim for criticism or a negative analysis for corruption will serve for stakeholders as a defamation reason. Until our problematic judicial system will prove the claim, who knows how many journalists will be unjustly in jail?

AIS joins the call of BIRN Albania http://www.reporter.al/kriminalizimi-i-shpifjes-ndaj-zyrtareve-te-larte-kercenim-per-demokracine/

The government is asked to withdraw the draft law that criminalize the defamation against the elected high state officials.  http://www.parlament.al/web/pub/pligj_shtese_7895_kodi_penal_24268_1.pdf

Also, AIS urges the Albanian Parliament to not pass this law and invites all civil actors to join the campaign.

AIS in Court against the three main parties: Transparency on Electoral Donors

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The preliminary court session between AIS and the three main political parties will be held on 5th of October 2015 at the Administrative Court of Tirana. AIS has indicted the Socialist Party (PS), the Democratic Party (DP) and the Socialist Movement for Integration (LSI) to the right of information on their electoral financing.

The main issues to be reviewed are: the AIS complaint and the legal interpretation of whether the public has the right to know in real time who is funding the electoral campaigns of the major parties in the country.

Political Parties request to information: http://ais.al/new/en/political-parties-and-access-to-information-on-electoral-financing-ais-complaint/

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Lawsuit act

Court Call document