1 General Part

CHAPTER V- PUNISHMENTS/SENTENCES

Article 33- The manner of serving life imprisonment and [ordinary] imprisonment

Life imprisonment and [ordinary] imprisonment are served at special institutions set up specifically for this purpose.

The rules concerning the manner of serving the imprisonment sentence, the prisoner’s rights and duties are defined by law.

Juveniles serve imprisonment sentences in institutions separated from those of the adults.

Women serve imprisonment sentences in institutions separated from those of men.

1 General Part

CHAPTER V- PUNISHMENTS/SENTENCES

Article 34- Punishment by fines

Fines consist of paying to the state an amount of money within the range provided for by law.

Fines are imposed upon persons who commit an offence or a criminal contravention.

For persons who have committed a crime, the fine ranges from 100 thousand to 10 million lekë.

For persons who commit a criminal contravention, the fine ranges from 50 thousand to 5 million lekë.

For persons who commit crimes with motives of profit of property or gain of any other material profit, if the criminal provision provides only punishment by imprisonment, the court can decide on punishment from 100 thousand to 5 million lekë.

The fine must be paid within the deadline fixed by the court.

The court, while considering the economic status of the defendant, may allow him to pay his fine by installments, fixing their amount and the terms of the payment.

When the fine is not paid in due time, the court decides on replacing the fine with imprisonment, calculating 5 thousand leks per one day of imprisonment.

When the fine is imposed for an offence committed, its replacement with imprisonment cannot exceed three years, whereas when it is imposed for a criminal contravention, the replacement cannot exceed one year of imprisonment, but always without exceeding the maximum of imprisonment provided for by the relevant disposition.

When the person convicted as above pays off his fine during the imprisonment term, the court revokes its sentence, making calculations according paragraph 7 of this Article.

GENERAL PROVISIONS
Article 5 Restrictions of the personal freedom
3. Persons convicted to imprisonment are ensured human treatment and moral rehabilitation.

TITLE IX EXECUTION OF DECISIONS
CHAPTER I EXECUTION OF DECISIONS
Article 462 Enforceable decisions
1. The sentence of the court is brought for enforcement immediately after becoming final.
2. The decision of acquittal, exclusion of the tried person from punishment and the one for the dismissal of the case are brought for enforcement immediately after their announcement.
3. The following are final decisions:
a) the first instance court decision when it is not appealed by the parties within the legal time limit, when it is non-appealable or when the appeal is not admitted for the reasons provided for in article 420 of this Code. In cases with co-defendants, the decision shall become final for the defendant who has not filed an appeal, notwithstanding the appeal of other co-defendants, provided that the prosecutor has not filed an appeal. When the prosecutor has not filed an appeal and the case is examined on the basis of the appeal of other co-defendants, the decision shall become final for the defendant who has not filed an appeal in a trial with co-defendants, notwithstanding the appeal filed with by the other co-defendants;
b) the decision of the appeal court, when it finally settles the case, pursuant to letters “a”, “b” and “c” of paragraph 1, of article 428 of this Code;
c) the decision of the High Court in the cases of extradition and transfer of the sentenced persons.
4. The way of execution of the criminal decisions is regulated by special law.

TITLE IX EXECUTION OF DECISIONS
CHAPTER II HEARINGS BY THE COURT OF CASES RELATED TO THE EXECUTION OF DECISIONS
Article 476 Postponing the execution of decision
1. The court which has issued the conviction decision, upon request of the convicted person, the defence lawyer or of the prosecutor, may decide the postponement of the execution of the decision in the following cases:
a) when the convicted person suffers an illness, which constitutes an obstacle for the execution of the decision. The execution shall be postponed until the convicted person is recovered;
b) when the convicted person is pregnant or she has a baby under one year old. The execution shall be postponed until the child reaches the age of one year;
c) when the immediate serving of the punishment may bring serious consequences to the convicted person or his family. The postponement of the execution in these cases may not exceed six months;
ç) in any other case evaluated by the court as particular, in which case the execution is postponed up to three months.
2. Upon submission of the request, the court has the right to suspend the execution of the decision until that is examined.
3. The court shall reason the decision within 5 days. The decision may be appealed within 5 days. The court of appeal shall decide on the appeal within 10 days from the date of receipt of acts.

TITLE IX EXECUTION OF DECISIONS
CHAPTER III EXECUTION OF THE CRIMINAL DECISIONS
SECTION I EXECUTION OF FOREIGN CRIMINAL DECISIONS
Article 516 Determining the sanction
1. When recognising a foreign decision, the court determines the punishment to be served in the Albanian state. It converts the punishment imposed in the foreign decision into one of the punishments provided for the same fact by the Albanian law. This punishment must correspond, by nature, to the one which has been established in the foreign decision. The length of the punishment may not exceed the maximum term provided for the same fact by the Albanian law.
2. When the foreign decision does not specify the length of the punishment, the court establishes it based on the criteria indicated in the Criminal Code. In no case the imposed punishment may be higher than the one imposed by the recognized criminal decision.
3. When the execution of the punishment rendered in a foreign state has been conditionally suspended, the court, with the decision of recognition, in addition to other issues, rules also on the conditional suspension of the punishment. the court does the same when the defendant has been conditionally released in the foreign country.
4. In order to establish a punishment by fine, the amount indicated in the foreign decision shall be converted in equal value into Albanian currency, applying the exchange rate of the day on which the recognition was decided.
5. The decision of recognition regarding the execution of a confiscation shall also order the execution of the confiscation.

CHAPTER IV
RECOGNITION AND EXECUTION OF CRIMINAL DECISIONS

SECTION I
EXECUTION OF FOREIGN CRIMINAL DECISIONS

Article 55
Documents that should be attached to the request of the sentencing state
1. The Ministry of Justice submits to the sentencing state a request to complete the documentation, without forwarding the acts to the local judicial authorities, if the request of the requesting state is not accompanied by the following documents:
a. the original or an identical [lit. unified] copy of the criminal decision with the determination that it is final;
b. the general data of the convicted person, also including data about his citizenship, residence and domicile, place of birth, as well as other data that might be important for determining the competent court that will decided on the request;
c. data about the execution of the decision rendered, including information about the time spent in detention and/or serving the sentence of imprisonment; ç. a copy of the legal provisions on which the decision sought to be recognized is based;
d. a summary submission of what happened in [lit. of the progress of] the criminal proceeding.
2. When the Ministry of Justice finds that the documentation is complete, within 20 days it sends it to the competent prosecutor, through the General Prosecutor.
3. If the sentencing state does not submit the documents requested within three months, the request and the acts are returned to the sentencing state. However, the procedure begins again if the request and acts completed by the sentencing state are submitted again.
4. The request for completion of documentation may also be submitted by the local judicial authorities if they find such a thing during the examination of the request.
This request is forwarded through the Ministry of Justice. This rule is not applicable if it is provided otherwise in a binding international agreement.

CHAPTER IV
RECOGNITION AND EXECUTION OF CRIMINAL DECISIONS

SECTION I
EXECUTION OF FOREIGN CRIMINAL DECISIONS

Article 57
Manner of proceeding by the court

1. Within 10 days from the deposit of the request of the prosecutor, the judge of the case sets the date of the judicial session and orders the notification of the parties.
2. The session is held with the mandatory participation of the prosecutor and the defence attorney.
3. In taking the decision on the request, the court takes account of the facts found in the foreign decision.
4. In setting the sentence, as well as relying on the Albanian criminal legislation, the court respects the conditions of article 516 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, also reasoning the circumstances evaluated.
5. The rules of the Code of Criminal Procedure are applicable for depositing the decision in the secretariat and giving notice of it.
6. The decision may be appealed to a court of a higher level by the prosecutor, the convicted person or his defence attorney within 10 days from its announcement or notification .

CHAPTER IV
RECOGNITION AND EXECUTION OF CRIMINAL DECISIONS

SECTION I
EXECUTION OF FOREIGN CRIMINAL DECISIONS

Article 59
Execution of a foreign criminal decision

After recognition, the foreign criminal decision is executed in conformity with article 518 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

Article 60
Execution of foreign decisions in case of transfer for continuation of serving of the
sentence

1. An Albanian citizen who is serving a sentence of imprisonment in a foreign state may, at his request, be transferred to Albania to continue serving the sentence of imprisonment after the decision has been recognised by the local judicial authorities.
2. If the sentencing state subjects the act by which the convicted person has received notification about the recognition decision, the Ministry of Justice forwards this act of notification to the General Prosecutor and the court that has given the recognition decision.
3. After the foreign criminal decision has been recognised and the competent authorities of the sentencing state have accepted the transfer of the convicted person, the taking of measures begin for transferring the convicted person from the sentencing state to Albania, applying, to the extent possible, the rules for the surrender of an extradited person.
4. The manner of paying and the division of the expenses of transfer is defined by joint instructions of the Minister of Finance, the Minister of the Interior and the General Prosecutor.