SENTENCING POLICY IN ALBANIA

ABSTRACT The sentencing policy carried out in a country is the main and most important issue of its criminal law, since it defines its essence. In the 20 years of the Albanian Criminal Code, the legislature has carried out 16 amendments and modifications, most of which are oriented towards the adoption of new criminal offences and the aggravation of sanctions for existing ones. In attempting to show clear political will to fight certain antisocial phenomena, different political majorities have done so in a way most apprehensible to the common people, but not the most effective and reasonable.Due to its populist criminal policies, Albania has now reached the highest levels of criminal punishment in Europe and, consequently, for a decade it has been facing high levels of overcrowded prisons and a chronic dependence on amnesties. Based on numerous empirical studies that have confirmed the lack of deterrent effect of imprisonment, most European countries have largely restricted its application, whereas in Albania it has become a widely used tool for dealing with many social problems. Also, after running heavy repressive campaigns against certain behaviours it has transformed the Criminal Code into a mass of chaotic provisions, with no clear nomocracy to determine the level of criminal sanctions and the way that judicial discretion is exercised.This paper aims to analyse all the elements of sentencing policy in this country, starting with the philosophical foundations of criminal punishment and the purposes it pursues, the diversity of punishments provided by the legal system, the principles, criteria and legal practices of sentencing followed by the courts, and the effectiveness of harsh criminal sentences on crime control. To conduct this dissertation, a wide body of both domestic and foreign literature has been used and also criminological data from multiple sources in the analysis of the research questions and hypothesis.This study has found that the criminal sentencing policy pursued in Albania is deeply irrational, demonstrating an urgent need for it to be set on more scientific principles.Keywords: Criminal punishment; Harsh sentence; Sentencing policy; Judicial discretion; General deterrence.