
The Constitutional Court repeals paragraph 8 of article 34 of the Penal
Code, considering it as inconsistent with the Constitution.
This law provided that people could convert fines with days in prison, and this has happened to people in difficult economic situations.
Although this matter has been discussed many times, it was the case of a soldier who failed to appear at his base that made the Constitutional Court take it under consideration.
The courts fined the soldier E.S, but after he didn’t pay, the prosecution asked to convert the fine of 14,000 ALL with imprisonment.
This penal request was sent at the Tirana Court, and judges addressed the Constitutional Court to repeal the paragraph, because it discriminates people who cannot pay the fine and this is inconsistent with the Constitution, which says: “No discrimination of the citizens is allowed for economic reasons”.
The Constitutional Court declared that the eighth paragraph of this article has problems with the understanding and also that punishment with fine and imprisonment are important punishments, but their impact on the violator is totally different.
The Courts usually give fines for small crimes like fraud, falsification or theft of electrical energy.
In many occasions, when the accused have not been able to repay the fine, the prosecution has asked their imprisonment, sending them to jail for several days, depending on the fine.
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