Statute of limitations in Albanian criminal law: Balancing national legislation and international standards

Abstract International agreements are important in strengthening the rule of law and all the norms that regulate the internal system. An important role is also played in the criminal norms that regulate the statute of limitations in criminal law. This article will analyze the legal provisions of international agreements and their implementation in domestic legislation. This analysis will serve to understand if their content complies with the internal legislation, the obligations that must be respected and which are the cases that are left to the discretion of the party states. The statute of limitations, according to the conventions, varies according to the criminal offenses and precisely in each of them a distinction is made according to the type and importance of the criminal offences. The Albanian penal code has a clear necessity to change and expand the statute of limitations, through a legal reform. This need arises to harmonize domestic legislation with foreign legislation and to facilitate the implementation of the law in matters that are mainly related to international cooperation. The integration of Albania into the EU requires the adaptation of its standards and leaves Albania with a series of obligations to improve and change the internal legislation, so it is more important to determine who are the appropriate legislators’ interventions, including the institute of prescription.