Deconstructing State Capture in Albania: An Examination of Grand Corruption Cases and Tailor-Made Laws from 2008 to 2020

State capture - whereby powerful individuals, institutions, companies or groups within or outside a country conspire to shape a nation’s policies, legal environment and economy to benefit their own private interests at the expense of the public - is a corruption challenge that has not been systematically examined in Albania. The existence of the phenomenon in the country has long been denied despite strong calls by civil society and independent media to examine many clear signs of it.

This report seeks to provide a systemic analysis of state capture in Albania by examining its enabling mechanisms and is based on a collection of grand corruption cases that cover both the networks of clientele and corruption in the judiciary and tailor-made laws. It identifies several shortcomings in four main areas: the integrity of public officials, the handling of corruption cases by the judiciary, the corruption of the judiciary, and the integrity of law-making.

The findings and conclusions of the report are primarily based on the grand corruption cases and tailor-made laws in the database but they also draw on rule-of-law assessments from international organisations and domestic anticorruption and investigative reports.

Read the Albanian translation of the report here: Zbërthimi i kapjes së shtetit në Shqipëri: Një shqyrtim i rasteve të korrupsionit të nivelit të lartë dhe ligjeve të bëra me porosi nga viti 2008 deri në 2020