good governance practices for the protection of human rights

Implementation
A national programme for public participation and civic education was implemented:
more than a dozen forums and symposia discussed constitutional issues
and gathered public input. The results of the forums helped the Constitutional
Commission and its staff to understand which issues were important to the public.
Several NGO forums also discussed constitutional issues and produced recommendations,
which they shared with the Commission. Finally, regional discussion
groups met throughout the country.
At the same time, ACCAPP worked with national NGOs, the Constitutional
Commission and citizens to develop civic education activities, including TV
broadcasts, radio programmes and newspaper serials on constitutional issues. A
newsletter was published to ensure the public’s informed participation in constitutional
discussions. Also, brief concept papers presented key constitutional issues
in a reader-friendly way.
Meanwhile the Constitutional Commission drafted and approved a revised text in
its entirety. Throughout the process the Commission benefited from the expertise
of Albanian and foreign constitutional experts, including representatives of the
Council of Europe’s Venice Commission. ACCAPP and the Constitutional Commission
also organized a series of public hearings throughout the country to solicit
public comments on the draft. ACCAPP collected suggestions and comments,
and submitted them to the Commission.
The constitutional discussions faced a serious political crisis in September 1998,
when generalized protests led to a rapid deterioration of the situation and a coup
attempt. The international community exerted diplomatic pressure to stabilize
the situation.
At this point, disinformation on the contents of the constitution and the constitutional
process was spread throughout the country by its opponents. However,
the civic and public information network built through the process served as a
source of reliable and credible information, which counterbalanced these attempts
to mislead. The transparent and participatory nature of the process gave
it legitimacy in the eyes of the public, which was not easily swayed by the disinformation
efforts. Throughout the crisis, ACCAPP continued to provide information
to the public and to all political forces. Once calm was restored following
diplomatic interventions by the international community, the Constitution was
approved in a referendum in which 50.57 per cent of the voters cast their ballots
(93.5 per cent in favour) and which, according to international observers, was
relatively free and fair. The relatively low voter turnout was largely the result of
the boycott by a key opposition party.
Impact on human rights and challenges
The availability of information, the effort to raise awareness on constitutional
issues and the creation of opportunities for public participation brought diverse
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