Abstract
The review of a final criminal decision is an extraordinary appeal instrument, because it does not follow the usual rules of appeal. This is related to subjects, deadlines and cases. The review, at first glance, seems to be a violation of the principle of legal certainty, because it is intended to review, retry a final decision, but in fact it is the opposite. The purpose of the review is essentially that of effective justice, that justice which must be done at all times, irrespective of the fact that the sentence imposed by the final decision may be fully served or extinguished. The review institute has undergone legal reforms in order to increase efficiency and respond to the needs of time. The legal reform of this institute aimed to expand the ratifications, adding in addition to the issues of fact and issues of law, but also issues of the right to a fair legal process. The legal reform was also in line with the evolving jurisdiction of the ECHR, but also of Albania’s Constitutional Court. Along with the reform for review, changes were also made to the institute of suspension of the execution of the final sentence, when the request for review of the decision is accepted. Suspension as an institute seems an effective means when it comes to suspending a final decision, which should not be executed because it is being reviewed.
The lawmaker has left the implementation of this institute in the hands of the court, which on a case-by-case basis can assess whether it can impose the suspension or not? This increased discretion of the court and the lack of a clear legal regulation has brought problems in practice, with different interpretations of this institute. From practice we have noticed that often the criteria for deciding whether to suspend or not when the request for review is accepted is objective, but there have been no subjective criteria. In these conditions, arises the need to make a clear legal adjustment as to when the suspension should be imposed and when not, or to have a unification of practice by Albania’s High Court, in relation to legal cases as to when it should be accepted or not and what legal criteria should be considered in approving or rejecting this request.