Constitutional Reform in Brazil: Lessons from Albania?

4 Revista de Investigações Constitucionais 11 (2017)

Boston College Law School Legal Studies Research Paper No. 453

24 Pages Posted: 1 May 2017 Last revised: 4 Jan 2022

See all articles by Richard Albert

Richard Albert

University of Texas at Austin - School of Law; University of Texas at Austin - Department of Government; Yale University; University of Toronto - Faculty of Law; São Paulo Law School of Fundação Getulio Vargas FGV DIREITO SP; University of Ottawa - Faculty of Law; Universidad Externado de Colombia - Facultad de Derecho; Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) Herzliyah - Radzyner School of Law; Universidad de Especialidades Espíritu Santo; Airlangga University; Maharashtra National Law University Mumbai

Juliano Benvindo

University of Brasilia

Dr Klodian Rado

York University, Osgoode Hall Law School

Fabian Zhilla

King’s College London; Harvard University

Date Written: April 29, 2017

Abstract

Corruption is a fact of public life in Brazil. Since the country’s transition to democracy, corruption has been a challenge for each presidential administration. The Brazilian judiciary has not escaped the corrupting influences in the region. One country whose challenges with judicial corruption are arguably even greater than Brazil’s is Albania, a country for which we were appointed to act as Consultants to the Special Parliamentary Committee on the Reform of the Judicial System responsible for introducing major constitutional reforms aimed at curbing judicial corruption. Those reforms to the Albanian Constitution entered into force in 2016. Too little time has elapsed since then to evaluate whether these reforms will fulfill their purposes. And certainly much too little time has passed for us to know whether the reforms in Albania can be applied with any confidence elsewhere in the world where similar problems with judicial corruption continue to undermine democratic norms of transparency and accountability, namely in Brazil. We nonetheless believe it is useful to explain the Albanian constitutional reforms and to introduce them to readers in Brazil as available options for combatting judicial corruption.

Keywords: Constitutional Reform, Constitutional Amendment, Corruption, Albania, Judicial Corruption, Transitional Vetting, European Union, Impeachment, Petrobras, Odebrecht, National Council of Justice, Constitutional Court of Albania, Code of Judicial Ethics, High Judicial Council, School of Magistrates

Suggested Citation

Albert, Richard and Benvindo, Juliano and Rado, Dr Klodian and Zhilla, Fabian, Constitutional Reform in Brazil: Lessons from Albania? (April 29, 2017). 4 Revista de Investigações Constitucionais 11 (2017), Boston College Law School Legal Studies Research Paper No. 453, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2960734

Richard Albert (Contact Author)

University of Texas at Austin - School of Law ( email )

727 East Dean Keeton Street
Austin, TX 78705
United States
512.213.1113 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://law.utexas.edu/faculty/richard-albert

University of Texas at Austin - Department of Government ( email )

College of Liberal Arts
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Yale University

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University of Toronto - Faculty of Law ( email )

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São Paulo Law School of Fundação Getulio Vargas FGV DIREITO SP

R. Rocha, 233, Bela Vista
São Paulo, 01330-000
Brazil

HOME PAGE: http://direitosp.fgv.br

University of Ottawa - Faculty of Law ( email )

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Ottawa, Ontario K1N 6N5
Canada

HOME PAGE: http://commonlaw.uottawa.ca

Universidad Externado de Colombia - Facultad de Derecho

Calle 12 # 1-17 este
Calle 12 0 83
Bogota D.C, Cundinamarca 3456
Colombia

HOME PAGE: http://www.uexternado.edu.co/derecho

Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) Herzliyah - Radzyner School of Law ( email )

P.O. Box 167
Herzliya, 46150
Israel

HOME PAGE: http://www.idc.ac.il/en/schools/law/pages/home.aspx

Universidad de Especialidades Espíritu Santo ( email )

Facultad de Derecho
Av. Samborondón 5
Samborondón, 092301
Ecuador

HOME PAGE: http://uees.edu.ec/postgrado/postgrado-derecho

Airlangga University

Dharmawangsa Dalam Selatan
Surabaya, East Java 60286
Indonesia

HOME PAGE: http://www.unair.ac.id

Maharashtra National Law University Mumbai ( email )

2nd Floor, CETTM MTNL Building, Technology Street
Hiranandani Gardens, Powai, Mumbai 400076
Maharashtra
India

HOME PAGE: http://mnlumumbai.edu.in/vaf.php

Juliano Benvindo

University of Brasilia ( email )

Campus Universitário Darcy Ribeiro
Asa Norte
Brasília-DF, Distrito Federal 70910-900
Brazil
+55(61)3107-0713/3107-0724 (Phone)
+55(61)3107-0710/3107-0714 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://goo.gl/MHARjp

Dr Klodian Rado

York University, Osgoode Hall Law School ( email )

North York, Ontario
Canada

Fabian Zhilla

King’s College London ( email )

Strand
London, England WC2R 2LS
United Kingdom

Harvard University ( email )

1875 Cambridge Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

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