Department of Strategy and Donor Coordination

Figure 1 indicates the performance of Albania with regard to rule of law during the period 2000–2008, according
to Governance Indicators 1 used each year by the World Bank (WB) in 212 countries. These indicators measure
the extent to which agents have confidence in and abide by the rules of society, in particular the enforceability
of contracts, property rights, police, judiciary and perceptions of the incidence of crime and violence. Albania
ranks among those countries with an average level of between 25 and 50 per cent for Governance Indicators 2 .
In 2008, there was a measured improvement of 4.4 per cent compared with 2007, mainly related to the
performance in democratisation and the rule of law.
With regard to political stability, among Balkan countries only Montenegro had a better estimated level than
Albania. The regulatory quality indicator ranked Albania in the upper half, i.e. among the best performing
countries. In addition, evident improvement was made with regard to freedom of speech and accountability.
For these two indicators, although Albania is ranked in the top half, it lagged somewhat behind its neighbours
and fell below the regional average. Improvement was reported also in government effectiveness, but Albania
remains below the average of SEE and Baltic countries and behind Montenegro, Macedonia and Serbia.
Proper functioning of rule of law requires the establishment of conditions and mechanisms of de-partisanship
and de-politicisation of central administration bodies to ensure efficient and full enforcement of the
Constitution and laws. To achieve this goal, measures must be taken to encourage active participation of
citizens in the decision-making process, and accountability of politicians in Albania’s democratisation and
integration process into the EU.
1 Other governance Indicators include accountability, political stability and absence of violence or terrorism, or both, government
effectiveness, regulatory quality, rule of law and control of corruption
2 Maximum performance is 100%
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