E/C.12/ALB/CO/2-3
(d)
International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention No. 122 (1964) on
Employment Policy, in 2009.
5.
The Committee welcomes the State party’s efforts to directly or indirectly
implement economic, social and cultural rights within the domestic legal order, which have
included the:
(a)
Adoption of the Law on Gender Equality, in 2008; the Law on Protection of
Children’s Rights, in 2010; the Law for the Protection from Discrimination, in 2010; and
the Law on Mental Health, in 2012;
(b)
Amendments to the Criminal Code, in 2013, which extended protection
against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, criminalized “internal trafficking”
(Law No. 144/2013) and introduced a special chapter on the “Responsibility of Corruptive
Crimes”; and
(c)
Amendments to the Constitution on lifting of parliamentary immunity from
criminal prosecution for legislators, judges and other high-level government officials in
corruption cases, in 2012.
6.
The Committee also welcomes the strategies and national action plans dealing with
prevention of, and the fight against corruption and against trafficking in persons, and
gender equality, as well as the work of the Commissioner for Protection from
Discrimination.
C.
Principal subjects of concern and recommendations
7.
The Committee regrets the absence of information about the cases of direct
applicability of the Covenant before the courts in the State party and the availability of
remedies. The Committee is concerned that the State party’s Constitution affords protection
to the rights contained in the Covenant in two distinct chapters, while the implementation of
one of them (the fifth chapter) cannot be claimed directly in courts.
The Committee requests that the State party collect and make available information
on the justiciability of all the rights enshrined in the Covenant, including the cases of
direct application of the Covenant before domestic courts as well as information on
the available remedies for individuals claiming a violation of their economic, social
and cultural rights, as contained in the Covenant. In this respect, the Committee
draws attention to its general comment No. 9 (1998) on the domestic application of the
Covenant. The State party should ensure that the division of the Covenant’s
provisions into different chapters of the Constitution does not impact their direct
applicability and enforceability in domestic courts.
8.
The Committee is concerned about the discrepancies in statistics and lack of
disaggregated data that would allow for an accurate assessment of the fulfilment of
economic, social and cultural rights in the State party.
The Committee recommends that the State Party:
(a)
Undertake regular and systematic assessments, against a clear set of
indicators, as regards the level of enjoyment of all the economic, social and cultural
rights by various segments of the population, including the most disadvantaged and
marginalized groups;
(b)
Set up a system of statistical data collection on unemployment, poverty,
sex-rates at birth, violence against children, dropout rates and re-enrolment in
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