Comparative Overview of Local Government Legislation in Albanian-speaking Republics

The Consttution of Albania defines in its Article 108, three units of local power, communes, municipalities and districts. Upon teh amendaments deriving from the new territorial reform, Albania has only 61 municipalities and 12 districts and no commune at all. In the article 5 of the law no. 139/2015 of the Local Self- Governance of the Republic of Albania, it is defined that municipalities and districts are the units of local governance. We have to do with a difference between the definition of the Constitution of Albania and the Law on Local Self- Governance. Therefore a constitutional amendment is needed in order to reflect the legal amendments on the local self-governance. The Republic of Albania approved the law no. 8548 on 11th November 1999 “ On the ratification of the European Card of Local Autonomy†. Upon this approval, the Card is an internal resource of the law and its implementation from the institutions and individuals is obligatory. Point 4 of the Article 14 of the Law on Local Self- Governance in the Republic of Albania defines that the Units of local self- governance may enter into inter-local collaboration agreements with units of foreign local self-governance units. Before entering in such agreements, these units obtain the opinion of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “Law on Local Self- Governance†of the Republic of Kosovo, approved in 2008. The reform on local governance started in 1999/2000, upon the end of the War in Kosovo and settlement of UNMIK Administration. Initially, the organization and functioning of local power was regulated by UNMIK Rule, which had the legal power, and then by the constitution in 2008. The Republic of Kosovo lies in an area of 10908 km/2 which is divided in 38 administrative units or in 38 communes which extends and act under specific territorial conditions. “Law on Local Self- Governance†of the Republic of Macedonia defines the communes as units of local self-governance. Another particularity of the Law on Local Self- Governance of the Local Republic of Macedonia is the status given to the city of Skopje as a special unit of local governance, as it is the Capital of the Republic. There are to be done the right legal amendments, in accordance to the legislation of EU and the interstate coordination in order to improve the collaboration in local governance level among the Albanian- speaking states, especially in the economic point of view, but as well as in the cultural and environmental one.