The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe has included the case of Tirana Mayor Erion Veliaj in its fourth monitoring report on the implementation of the European Charter of Local Self-Government in Albania.
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Relying on the findings of the Venice Commission, the authors of the document emphasize that “the prolonged pre-trial detention of mayors must be treated with special care.” According to them, such a situation “may call into question both the individual rights of mayors under the European Convention on Human Rights and the rights of the voters who elected them.”
The report follows the full chronology of events: from Veliaj’s arrest, to the attempts to remove his mandate, and the Constitutional Court’s decision that reinstated him at the head of the Municipality of Tirana. However, it is noted that “in practice, Mr. Veliaj is unable to perform his duties as mayor, as he continues to be held in pre-trial detention.”
The document also mentions the Constitutional Court’s subsequent decision regarding the arrest measure, whereby it “returned the case for review to the Supreme Court, finding that its earlier decision on pre-trial detention was not sufficiently reasoned with regard to the proportionality of the pre-trial detention measure.”
The section of the report dedicated to Mayor Veliaj
“Judicial protection of local government rights plays an important role in Albania. According to one source, a total of 36 mayors, whether in office or former mayors, have been investigated on corruption charges in recent years.[47] In February 2025, the Special Structure Against Corruption and Organized Crime (SPAK) arrested the Mayor of Tirana, Erion Veliaj, on corruption charges; since then, he has been held in pre-trial detention.
In September 2025, the Tirana Municipal Council voted to dismiss the mayor from office due to his absence from the workplace for more than 3 months. On this basis, the government issued a dismissal decree, and a presidential decree set early elections to be held in Tirana. However, in November 2025, the Constitutional Court of Albania reinstated Erion Veliaj to the post of mayor, declaring his dismissal unconstitutional and annulling the early elections in the capital. In practice, Mr. Veliaj is unable to perform his duties as mayor, as he continues to be held in pre-trial detention.
The rapporteurs consider commenting on the ongoing criminal proceedings to be outside the scope of this report. As a general observation, they wish only to note that Albania ranks among the countries with the highest levels of pre-trial detention in Europe, as well as with a relatively long average duration of pre-trial detention. The Venice Commission’s report on the impact of the pre-trial detention of mayors on the exercise of democratic local government has stressed that the prolonged pre-trial detention of mayors must be treated with special care, as it may call into question both the individual rights of mayors under the ECHR and the rights of the voters who elected them.
In May 2026, the Constitutional Court of Albania partially upheld the Mayor of Tirana’s appeal against his pre-trial detention and returned the case for review to the Supreme Court, finding that its previous decision on pre-trial detention had not been sufficiently reasoned with regard to the proportionality of the pre-trial detention measure. On September 15, 2026, the Supreme Court upheld the pre-trial detention order.”
The document was submitted to the Congress on October 7 and is expected to be put to a vote on October 27.
