Success Story – Lawyer protects his right during exercise of profession and wins battle with public body in Administrative Court of Appeal

Our client is a lawyer from Tirana who was refused access to information regarding documentation of treatment by the Property Treatment Agency (ATP) of ownership of citizen A.A, which clearly created overlap with property of other citizens. The refusal was based on the claim that the lawyer was not a “legitimized party” to request documents related to the case.

Lawyer Kastriot Frashëri, in his capacity as representative with power of attorney of citizens Xh.V and E.V, requested from the National Agency for Return and Compensation of Properties (AKKP) official information regarding documentation of treatment of ownership of citizen A.A, which overlapped with the property of citizens Xh.V and E.V in Shkozet, Durrës.

The request was based on article 6 of Law no. 9109/2003 “On the profession of Lawyer”, which grants lawyers the right to request from public institutions documents and data necessary for the exercise of their profession.

Despite this legal basis, AKKP refused to provide the requested information, maintaining that the lawyer was not a “legitimized party” to make such a request.

In 2015, the Administrative Court of Tirana rejected the lawsuit, reasoning that the right to request information belonged only to the represented persons themselves, not to their lawyer.

Lawyer Frashëri opposed the decision, arguing that:

• The law on the profession of lawyer recognizes the direct right of lawyers to request information from public bodies;
• Non-provision of this information hinders the exercise of the profession and infringes the function of the lawyer as a guarantor of citizens’ rights;
• The first instance court had wrongly interpreted procedural law regarding active legitimation.

The Administrative Court of Appeal Tirana, after reviewing the case, completely overturned the first instance decision and accepted the lawyer’s lawsuit.

In its decision, the Court emphasized several fundamental points:

• The lawyer is legitimized to file a lawsuit for non-provision of information by public bodies, based on article 6/3 of Law no. 9109/2003;
• The refusal of AKKP to provide documentation infringed the professional right of the lawyer to exercise his profession;
• The lawsuit was not for civil interests of clients, but for protection of the integrity of the lawyer’s profession as part of the justice system;
• The actions of AKKP were illegal, as they contradicted Law no. 119/2014 “On the right to information” and standards of due legal process guaranteed by the Constitution and the ECHR.

The Administrative Court of Appeal:

• Changed the first instance decision;
• Accepted the lawsuit of lawyer Kastriot Frashëri;
• Obliged AKKP Tirana to make available the information requested with letter no. 2400, dated 01.06.2015.

This decision was considered an important legal victory for the exercise and protection of the lawyer’s role and the right to access public information.

The case creates a positive precedent in Albanian administrative jurisprudence, confirming that a lawyer, in the exercise of the profession, has direct legitimacy to request information from public bodies, that non-provision of such information constitutes an infringement of the right to exercise the profession, and that the Administrative Court of Appeal strengthens standards of the rule of law and lawyer independence as an integral part of the justice system.