Debate and Policy Paper on “Financial Control of State-Owned Corporates” (Standards, Chapter 32 of EU Integration)

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The organization AIS, promoter of Open Data Albania, organized on May 31st, a Debate and Presentation of a Policy Paper on the topic of Financial Control of State-Owned Corporates (SOC – State Owned Corporates).

Financial Control, as in chapter 32, part of Cluster 1, in the process of fulfilling the conditions and standards for Integration.

State Owned Enterprises or Companies are a risky sector in terms of management and control of finances and assets. The Integration Process targets efforts and models which in the SOC sector are far from meritocracy management, effective performance, sound financial management and multi-level auditing.

The Policy Paper, drafted by AIS, was presented by the expert Professor Dr. Lindita Milo (Lati). The document analyzes the situation in the country and presents findings and recommendations for progress. This document was formulated as part of the C1-EU-NPA project, supported by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Tirana.

The complete document in Albanian and English.

Three expert panelists ellaborated and emphasized aspects of the sector, problems and the need for better standards and policies in management and auditing. Specifically:

Prof. Assoc. Dr. Ira GJIKA presented the Findings and Recommendations on Enterprise Management and Auditing

CFA. Irena BEQIRAJ The former Deputy Minister of Finances, presented some typical cases of poor SOC management, issues coming from party influences and the lack of meritocracy at the management level.

Prof. Assoc. Dr. Mateo SPAHO presented the EU models and standards of Financial Control over State Owned Companies, highlighting a far-from-positive situation in the Albanian context and the need for reform, independence and management through administrators with the proper skills and integrity.

At this event, the DataSet with dynamic passports for State Owned Corporates was also presented, a dataset incorporated in the Open Corporates Albania web database. The Director of AIS/Open Data Albania, Ms. Aranita BRAHAJ, explained the importance of information and transparency on the management, performance, legal issues and use of assets of important public companies. With a view to making these companies as transparent as possible, AIS has applied the Open Corporates Albania Open Business Register model. In this database, the information comes for each Company in a well-structured version applying OpenData and LinkData standards. The database for State Owned Companies is the result of the implementation of the project entitled Open Data Access and Transparency over sector exposed to Risk of Corruption, a project supported by Sida, the Sweden International Development Cooperation Agency (March 2021 – February 2024). The purpose of the project itself is to Promote Transparency and Inform the Public through Open Data.

The event was attended by representatives from Institutions Engaged in Financial Control and Auditing of the State Owned Companies Sector, such as

  • Ministry of Finances
  • High State Audit
  • Representatives from the Embassies of European countries
  • Representative of EU Delegation in Tirana
  • Academic representatives from Universities
  • ThinkTank Organizations
  • Media representatives
  • Members of the OpenData Fellowship Youth Network

List of participants.

Findings, Opinions or Recommendations Expressed in this document and in the organized event represent the views of the experts and the AIS organization, and do not necessarily correspond with those of the project partners or supporters.

Datathon Albania 2023

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DataThon Albania, a data marathon, took place on April 3rd and 4th, 2023. Over two days, young participants collaborate to create a dataset, analyze, visualize, and present the data.

AIS has previously organized events such as Hackathons, DataThons, or DiploHacks. This year, participants in the data marathon were young members of the OpenDataFellowship Network. The event aimed at Civic Education and empowering young people in data gathering and analysis, as well as presenting their finding to the public.

 

Monday and Tuesday, From 3 April, 09:00 to 16:30 and 4 April, from 17:00 to 18:30

Rogner Hotel, Antigonea Meeting Room

Topic of DataThon: Party Financing Data, Charts, Visualizations and Recommendations

The participants of DataThon Albania this year are young people from the OpenDataFellowship Network

 

Datathon Albania 2023 is organized by AIS, promoter of Open Data in Albania

This year, DataThon is held as part of the Open Data Access and Transparency Project activities

in sectors exposed to the risk of corruption, a project financially supported by

Sida – Sweden International Development Cooperation Agency

First Day of Marathon, April 3rd, from 09:00 to 16:30

Phase 1: Ideation from 10:30 to 12:00

Welcome Participants to the Marathon

Logistics

What is a DataThon?

How can data be collected for the Finances of Political Parties over the years

Working Teams are created for Lawyers: Statisticians; Economists; and Designers

Moderator: Aranita Brahaj & Fatjona Mejdini

12:00 DEADLINE – HAND IN YOUR PROBLEM ANALYSIS

Lunch 12:00 – 13:00

Phase 2: Prototyping 13:00 to 15:00

Phase 3: Preparing an elevator pitch from 15:00 to 16:30

Prepare an elevator pitch of Max 3 minutes on the idea MAX 1 visual

17.00 DEADLINE: HAND IN 1 VISUAL FOR ELEVATOR PITCH

 

 

Second Day of the Marathon, April 4rth, from 17:00 to 18.30

DataThon Albania Award Ceremony

Tuesday, April 4th, 17:00 – 18:30

Rogner Hotel, Antigonea Meeting Room

PRESENTATION OF THE TEAMS – KEY NOTE SPEECH – AWARDS AND DRINKS

Follow us

On the website of AIS http://ais.al/new/

On twitter @AIScience

on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/OpenDataAlbania/

Where the Graph, Data and Visualizations of this Marathon are published

On the Open Data Albania web page

DataThon Albania 2023 is organized by @AIS, promoter of Open Data in Albania

Supported by Sida – Sweden International Development Cooperation Agency

 

 

 

Some Data-Sets, Graf and Data prepared in the frame of the DataThon Albania 2023 event:

AIS concerned: Central Election Commission has limited access to Documents and Information on previous Election Periods.

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For many weeks now (February 2023), the CEC official website lost touch with its database before 2020. This database contains Documents, Acts, Reports, Minutes and Decisions that represent the backbone of CEC activity and electoral campaigns developments. Similarly, while Albania gears up for the local elections, the previous 2019 campaign is darkened by a total lack of acts and information on the CEC website.

Although public access to these documents is a legal obligation, those are no longer accessible online for use by interested stakeholders. Specifically, missing from the pre-2020 campaigns are all:

  • Audit Reports and Financial Reports of electoral subjects and political parties;
  • Voter Turnover in each electoral zone;
  • De-criminalization Forms filled out by individuals running in the 2019 campaign;
  • Decisions of the Central Election Commission;
  • Complaints/Appeals and Minutes of institutional sessions;
  • Acts and Documents.

While CEC proclaimed initiatives to apply information technology, digitalization, and online reporting during 2023, it seems that website hosting and interoperability with the earlier database is a challenge that puts a big question mark on CEC’s capacities and will.

AIS is an organization that promotes access, transparency, and information. AIS holds that Data is Power and data must be made available to all stakeholders.

AIS filed a complaint on this denied access in the section Report of CEC website, and finds really concerning this shrank access to information on previous electoral campaigns and developments.

Truncated access, missing transparency, and irresponsibility in managing official documents represent a very risky aspect of how access to information may be used unilaterally.

We work on Civic Education – Youth Empowerment in Anticorruption

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Empowering young people against corruption – this is the goal for which we created a group of young people, part of the OpenDataYouthNetwork, a year ago. In October, this team was trained on several important topics in anti-corruption analysis. Civic education and strengthening FactChecking Models on accountability are two important aspects of the organization’s activities and projects.  
  The work with young people and the expansion of the Network will continue with other events such as trainings, forums, individual sessions, publications by young people themselves on the web – FollowTheMoney blog. This network is the product of our work in implementing the Open Data Access and Transparency over sectors exposed to Risk of Corruption Project, supported by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida).

StartUp Datathon Albania, Data Marathon by AIS, promoter of Open Data

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AIS returns to its tradition of Datathon and Hackathon Albania. This November we started working with a group of young people for the DataThon that will be held in January 2023. DataThon comes from the words Data and Marathon. They are events where people meet to work together on an idea and to collect, analyze, visualize and communicate findings related to data.

AIS has previously held DataThon and HackaThon in Tirana. This time DataThon is an event that will engage young members from the OpenDataFellowship Network. This Youth Network was created to increase the capacities and skills of young people in anti-corruption issues. The issue to be addressed this time is the finance of political parties, their volume, structure, and visualized forms of research. For more information on DataThon Albania 2023, a publication will be prepared on AIS website.

Treasury transactions, 10 years of open data for each expenditure, 1900 budgetary institutions

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How does the Government Spend the Taxpayers’ Money? Our well-structured Treasury Transactions database enables the monitoring of all payments that state institutions make to third parties. Currently, we have data on each payment made in 10 years. The data is obtained through the access to information from the Treasury Department. They are placed in a system where anyone can easily find, use and reuse them in real time.

The system also offers a search engine through filters, where transactions are divided by institution, beneficiaries, value, expenditure category, payment date or invoice number. This database discloses to the public information about how taxpayers’ money is spent; where the funds are allocated; who benefits and how much is paid for certain projects and programs.

Open Data and Gender Reports, Social-economic Data on Gender Balance

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The Open Data Albania portal continuously publishes data related to Gender Balance Statistics in the country. Articles are listed under the Gender Relations topic. The latest data published are related to the gender balance in sectors and fields such as Demography, Education, Public Representation and Penal Policy by gender groups.

The data assist in identifying ratios and development of gender groups, revealing also economic and social imbalances. The gender pay gap in different employment sectors, as well as the data on Penal Policy and Sentences imposed by courts on women compared to the total number of sentences imposed for crimes in the country – are two indicators carefully presented during November.

OpenData Youth Fellowship Retreat October 22nd and 23rd, 2022

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The organization AIS / Open Data Albania has been working with a group of students and young professionals for a year, creating a Fellowship program for empowering young people in Anti-corruption matters. This includes events held during the year such as work sessions; discussion forums; internships with the organization’s team; training and other networking events. On the weekend of October 22nd and 23rd, members of the youth team traveled to several districts of the country on a Retreat. The event contains   – Happy Hours and Networking – Presentation of the Organization’s Work Strategy Youth Objectives – StartUp DataThon Albania  

  • The itinerary was organized with the cooperation of Fation Plaku Photography, author of Homeland Albania.

  The young participants areas of significance for nature; culture, tradition and urban development of the country, such as: – Nivica, the view over the Canyon – Peshtura waterfall – Labova, the beautiful area of Lunxhëria with religious and cultural monuments dating back to the 5th century. – accommodation at Bujtina Maria, a model of agritourism and tourism business initiative, where we presented AIS new Work Strategy, with a focus on civic education and young people. – Archaeological Park #Antigone. – Peshtan, visit to the Italian-Greek war museum, During the event, the Work Program was also finalized for the next event of the Network, which is DataThon Albania Financing of Political Parties, an event that will be held in December 2022.

Video Realizuar me Dron nga Fation Plaku Tetor 2022 Kanion Nivice
Video Realizuar me Dron nga Fation Plaku Tetor 2022 Parku Arkeologjik Antigone
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Working with young people and empowering them against corruption is part of the implementation of the Open Data, Access and Transparency over sectors exposed to Risk of Corruption Project. The project is supported by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, Sida. One of the components of the project is Youth Empowerment against Corruption – Citizen Education, Improve Fact-Checking Models.

Training Cycle: Youth Empowerment against Corruption – Citizen Education, Improve Fact Checking Models

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The Organization AIS / Open Data Albania is holding this week (October 2022) a training cycle with young people, part of the OpenDataYouth Network. The young participants in this program are selected through competition targeting young journalist professionals or students; economists; tax accountants; future politicians; analysts; sociologists; researchers; etc.

The purpose of the Training is to raise the capacities and empower the youth, as the category most predisposed to bring change in society. The targeted capacity includes awareness, articulation, education and evaluation on issues of good governance and anti-corruption. Provide them with knowledge about the stakeholders engaged in anti-corruption phenomena and tracking methods. The final goal is for a researcher, activist, journalist in the first steps of the profession, or during university studies to be able to articulate publicly on issues related to governance and corruption

There are eight specific topics addressed during October with a focus on anti-corruption and good governance issues, namely Corruption and EU Integration; Media and Anti-Corruption; Institutions and Stakeholders engaged in Anti-Corruption; Gender Perspective and Anti-Corruption; Corruption by Law; Money Laundering Challenges; Fiscal Policy and Civil Society and Activism for Anticorruption.

Working with young people and empowering them against corruption is part of the implementation of the Open Data, Access and Transparency over sectors exposed to Risk of Corruption Project. The project is supported by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, Sida. One of the components of the project is Youth Empowerment against Corruption – Citizen Education, Improve Fact-Checking Models.

This component shall consist of several events. Its objective is to educate and develop the skills of a group of young people in critical thinking and articulation on issues related to corruption. The component envisages activities such as training, individual work sessions, internships at the organization, forum, preparation of articles and networking.

 See the Training Program: HERE

 See the Curricula HERE

Photo from the Training:  

Announcements and other Network Events:

Call Apply to become part of the open data fellowship youth network http://ais.al/new/en/apply-to-become-part-of-the-open-data-fellowship-youth-network/

OpenData Fellowship Youth Network working with young people to increase their capacities

http://ais.al/new/en/open-data-fellowship-youth-network-working-with-young-people-to-increase-their-capacities/

Forum “Youth and Emigration as an inducement to live for a better country

http://ais.al/new/en/forum-youth-and-emigration-corruption-as-inducement-to-live-for-a-better-country/

http://ais.al/new/en/forum-youth-and-emigration-corruption-as-inducement-to-live-for-a-better-country/

Documents and Analysis following the Decisions of the European Court of Human Rights, case of Besnik Cani v. Albania (vetting), AksesDrejtesiAlbania

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If Besnik Cani v. Albania case in Strasburg would construe a Precedent (unifying verdict) 8 other judges and prosecutors today would be awarded the same rights as Mr. Cani, as the Judge elected in violation of the statutory criterias is part of nine Decisions where the KPA (Appeals Chamber) has opposed the qualifications in the KPK (Independent Qualification Commission)

The previous day, the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg issued a decision on the case of Besnik Cani against Albania. Mr. Cani is a prosecutor who passed the first stage of evaluation in the KPK (Decision No. 84/2018), but was dismissed by the Special Appeals Panel (Decision 2.2020). His case in Strasbourg referred precisely to the decision of the KPA, with the argument that the right to due process had been violated, since one of the member judges of the College, Mr. L.D., had been appointed in violation of the statutory criteria, having previously been dismissed from his office as a judge in First Instance Court.

The Strasbourg Court accepted the request of Mr. Besnik Cani, awarding him the right to claim that he was not given a proper process. Mr. Cani’s profile and documents concerning his evaluation HERE

The Decision issued on October 4th by the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, it seems to cast doubts on quite a few decisions, where the KPA Judge (elected contrary to the statutory criteria) was a member of the body that made said decisions. Specifically, below we will list the cases in which the Judge or Prosecutor under the Vetting Process had been confirmed by the Temporary Qualification Commission, but was later dismissed by the KPA- Special Appeals Chamber composed of a panel that included Mr. L.D.

The documents listed below are part of the Access to Justice database – the Register of Magistrates, a register created by the AIS organization with the aim of increasing transparency, integrity and public trust in individuals who are part of the justice system.

Confirmed in KPK (Independent Qualification Commission) and dismissed in KPA (Appeals Chamber)

 

  1. Decision No. 12/2018 (JR) dated 17.12.2018, the subject of the re-evaluation is Bashkim Dedja, confirmed by the KPK and dismissed by the KPA; Luan Daci – Rapporteur of the case, see passport and documents: HERE
  2. Decision No. 6/2019 (JR) dated 28.02.2019, including the minority opinion; the subject of the re-evaluation is Antoneta Sevdari, confirmed by the KPK and dismissed by the KPA, case Presided by Luan Daci; documents and passport of the subject: HERE
  3. Decision No. 9/2019 (JR) dated 18.04.2019; the subject of the re-evaluation Astrit Faqolli, confirmed by the KPK and dismissed by the KPA, with Luan Daci acting as Member; documents and passport of the subject: HERE
  4. Decision No. 11/2019 (JR) dated 22.05.2019, including the parallel opinion; the subject of the re-evaluation is Edmond Islamaj, confirmed by the KPK and dismissed by the KPA, Presided by Luan Daci; Register of Magistrates – documents and passport of the subject: HERE
  5. Decision No. 14/2019 (JR) dated 09.07.2019, including parallel opinions; Alma Brati, the subject of the re-evaluation See Profile HERE, confirmed by the KPK and dismissed by the KPA, with Luan Daci acting as Member;
  6. Decision No. 19/2019 (JR) dated 26.07.2019, including the parallel opinion; the subject of re – evaluation Xhezair Zaganjori, confirmed by the KPK and dismissed by the KPA, with Luan Daci acting as Member; documents listed: HERE
  7. Decision No. 27/2019 (JR) dated 24.10.2019; the subject of re-evaluation Artur Malaj, confirmed by the KPK and dismissed by the KPA, with Luan Daci acting as Member See Profile HERE
  8. Decision No. 2/2020 (JR) dated 27.02.2020, including the parallel opinion; the subject of re-evaluation Besnik Cani, confirmed by the KPK and dismissed by the KPA, with Luan Daci acting as Member, the European Court of Human Rights accepted his appeal with a Decision dated October 4th, 2022.
  9. Decision No. 4/2020 (JR) dated 12.03.2020; the subject of re-evaluation Arben Dollapaj, confirmed by the KPK and dismissed by the KPA; Luan Daci – Rapporteur.

Meanwhile, KPA member Luan Daci was appointed by the Assembly as a member of the Special Appeals Chamber on June 17, 2017. A criminal investigation was filed against him in the Supreme Court thereafer. He exercised this duty until his suspension from the College (December 2021).

Mr. Luan Daci has been part of the collegial body  in about 35 Decisions concerning re-evaluations of Judges and Prosecutors which constitute Dismissal Decisions in the KLP (High Prossecutor’s Office), who remained in force even after the appeal in the KPA (Appeals Chamber).

All KPA Decisions are published and carefully listed in the Register of Magistrates Access to Justice Akses Drejtësi, a platform created by the AIS organization as an open and transparent model of a Magistrate’s Register.