A recently enacted law now regulates the legal profession in Albania. Law 9109/2003 aims to improve the legal framework governing the conduct of lawyers in the practice of their profession.

The new law, which replaces the law enacted in 1994, is intended to meet the requirements of the new standards and trends in business development. The changes introduced by the new law do not affect the core of the legal profession, but highlight and clarify certain issues relating to the independence of the profession.

Key Features

The Ministry of Justice - as an executive body - is no longer entitled to act as governing and supervising authority. The new law establishes that "the legal profession in the Republic of Albania is a free, independent, self-governed and self-managed profession".

The governing and supervising body of the legal profession is now the National Chamber of the Legal Profession. The chamber operates in accordance with its own regulations and is composed of local chambers established by lawyers or law offices. Moreover, the minister of justice is no longer entitled to evaluate qualifications and award licences for the practice of the legal profession.

Therefore, a new commission is in charge of granting licences for the practice of the legal profession upon passing the bar examination. The commission consists of:

• three members designated by the board of directors of the chamber;
  
  
• one member representing the Ministry of Justice; and
  
  
• one member representing the Magistrates School.

Under the previous law, the minister of justice had discretion to determine cases where passing the examination was unnecessary for the award of a licence; under the provisions of the new law, such decision must be taken by the board of directors of the chamber.

The previous law provided that all practising lawyers were subject to compulsory qualification examinations every five years. This requirement no longer exists under the new law. Moreover, it is not mandatory to be a permanent resident of Albania to practise as a lawyer. Furthermore, the new law recognizes foreign legal education. In addition, the law provides that Albanian lawyers may practise their profession abroad in accordance with the provisions of the law on legal assistance.

The key measures introduced by the law are as follows:

• introduction of the National Chamber of the Legal Profession as the authority in charge of supervising professional conduct;
  
  
• establishment of local chambers of the legal profession; and
  
  
• introduction of disciplinary measures.

Under the new law, the chamber must establish a Disciplinary Commission. The commission - on its own initiative or following proposals from a chamber of lawyers, a judiciary body, the Prosecutor's Office, the minister of justice or any other interested party - may revoke licences awarded for the practice of the legal profession. The board of directors of the chamber supervises the activities of the commission.

In addition, the new law introduces specific provisions governing the creation of law offices. The board of directors of the chamber is now the sole authority entitled to approve the bylaws or regulations of law offices. The board must issue a decision within 30 days of filing of the request. The requirements applying to the form of law offices remain unclear; under the law, a law office may request to be recognized as a legal entity by the court in accordance with the provisions of the Commercial Code.

Another important provision relates to foreign lawyers practising in Albania. The new law provides that foreign lawyers may practise in Albania where they meet the requirements under the law and have successfully passed the Albanian language test. The national chamber has authority to approve the rules and regulations on the licensing of foreign lawyers in Albania. These rules and regulations have yet to be determined.

Furthermore, the new law provides for the classification of lawyers. To this end, the chamber has established a list of lawyers authorized to appear before first instance courts, courts of appeal, the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court. The law does not provide the criteria for the classification of lawyers; the chamber has the discretion to decide on the issue.

Comment

Arguably, the new law is a definite improvement over the 1994 law and may be considered as an attempt to improve the legal climate in Albania. However, certain issues - including professional standards and ethics, and the lawyer-client relationship - remain unsolved.

For further information please contact Renata Leka at Boga & Associates by telephone (+355 42 51 050) or by fax (+355 42 51 055) or by email (leka@bogalaw.com).

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