The enforcement of custody, access rights and child abduction judgments in Albania between international cooperation and the ECtHR case law

This dissertation examines Albania's enforcement challenges and legal dynamics surrounding child abduction judgments, access rights, and custody rights, focusing on the interaction between international cooperation and the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). The work is organised into critical sections to provide a comprehensive examination of Albania's legal framework, international obligations, and consistency with ECtHR standards. The introduction sets the foundation by explaining the context of the study, identifying persistent issues and challenges related to custody, access rights implementation, and cross-border child abduction within Albania's legal system. It outlines research objectives for a detailed exploration of these issues, highlighting deficiencies and challenges in existing enforcement mechanisms. The significance of this work lies in its effort to understand how Albania navigates between domestic legal imperatives, international obligations, and evolving interpretations of ECtHR case law in family law. Chapter 1 offers a comprehensive review of the literature and scholarly work on child abduction, access rights, and custody rights in Albania. It examines inconsistencies between Albania's domestic legal framework and international standards, including those defined in the Hague Convention. The chapter explores the influence of ECtHR case law on Albania's judicial practices, focusing on landmark cases such as Bajrami vs. Albania or Qama vs. Albania and Italy, which illustrate the complexities arising from jurisdictional issues and gaps in the legal framework. Chapter 2 delves into Albania's legal framework concerning child abduction judgments, access enforcement procedures, and custody rights. It examines procedural mechanisms used to enforce access rights and implement child abduction judgments, providing an overview of legislative provisions governing custody rights. Practical challenges such as judicial interpretation, administrative capacity, and compliance with international norms are identified in this chapter, highlighting difficulties in enforcing custody rights. 5 Chapter 3 focuses on Albania's compliance with ECtHR case law regarding custody, access rights, and child abduction judgments. It provides an in-depth analysis of relevant ECtHR decisions that have influenced Albania's legal and judicial landscape. The chapter evaluates Albania's adherence to international standards and obligations as interpreted through ECtHR law, assessing the country's implementation of ECtHR decisions and efforts to harmonise domestic regulations with European human rights standards. In conclusion, this dissertation underscores the complex balance Albania must maintain between its domestic legal system and evolving interpretations of ECtHR case law. It argues that despite Albania's progress in aligning practices with international standards, significant obstacles remain in enforcing custody rights, ensuring access to justice, and fully complying with ECtHR decisions.