THE DECISION OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT NO. 24/2021

The Constitutional Court on May 4 2021, took a decision announced on June 2, 2021 to abolish the phrase "without prior permission of the competent body under special provisions" of the first paragraph of Article 262 of the Penal Code of the Republic. of Albania, as incompatible with Articles 17, points 1 and 47 of the Constitution of the Republic of Albania, a provision decriminalizing the criminal offenses of organizing gatherings and events of persons in squares and public places of passage, without prior permission from the competent department according to the special provisions or when the organizers violate the conditions set out in the application for a permit, constitute a criminal offense and it is punishable by a fine or imprisonment of up to one year,

The Constitutional Court must make an interpretation and make a complete decision regarding the decriminalization of these indirect criminal offenses which are resulted  from a major criminal offense such as the illegal gathering that is now legal and consequently the other criminal offenses covered by this criminal offense should be decriminalized as a criminal fact and should not constitute a criminal offense in cases where these criminal offenses have been raised and found in an illegal gathering / protest.