Rama plans changes, how EU countries act towards ministers under investigation; concrete cases

The Socialist Party recently proposed changes to the Criminal Procedure Code that protect ministers and some other senior officials from suspension from office through an initiative that aims to weaken the special anti-corruption structure.

At a meeting of the Socialist Party parliamentary group, led by Prime Minister Edi Rama, the Socialists announced that they would amend Article 242 of the Criminal Procedure Code, removing the right of the courts to issue suspension decisions against the Prime Minister, ministers, the President, the Ombudsman and the head of the Supreme Audit Office.

But while the Albanian government is proposing legal changes to limit the ability of courts to suspend ministers during criminal investigations, European Union countries have different practices for senior officials when facing judicial charges.

France

In France, there is the Cour de Justice de la République (CJR), a special court created to try criminal cases involving ministers or former ministers for offenses committed in the exercise of their duties.

This court is a special mechanism for dealing with issues related to the criminal responsibility of French government officials. 

For example, France's Minister of Culture, Rachida Dati , has been the subject of an investigation by French authorities on suspicion of corruption and misuse of funds. 

ITALY 

In Italy, there is no absolute immunity for ministers facing criminal prosecution.

While in the past, Italian legislation introduced the idea of ​​" Lodo Alfano ", a law that provided criminal protection to the president, prime minister and other high-ranking figures, this was declared incompatible with the Italian Constitution in 2009.

The law was considered an attempt to ban trials of political figures, but was struck down by the Constitutional Court.

This shows that the Italian system is much closer to the principle that justice is open to rulers, without an insurmountable legal "immunity".

Germany

In Germany, legislators and government officials who are members of Parliament have procedural immunity that can be lifted by the Bundestag if they are to be prosecuted. This is regulated in Article 46 of the German Constitution (Grundgesetz).

This clearly shows that even in a powerful country like Germany there is no absolute protection for senior government officials, and in no case does it block criminal liability.

Greece

Makis Voridis , former Minister of Agriculture and later Minister of Migration, resigned in June 2025 following allegations of his involvement in a scheme to defraud European Union agricultural funds. The investigation was coordinated by the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) and included a file submitted to the Greek Parliament for the suspension of the ministers' legal immunity.

EU institutions

Even in the institutions of the European Union, high-ranking officials have faced investigations by the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO), showing that the justice-politics relationship in the EU is treated with an approach geared towards accountability, not absolute protection:

Federica Mogherini, former EU High Representative and Foreign Minister in Italy, resigned as rector of a European institution following investigations into suspicions over the tendering procedures of the EU diplomatic academy.

From the above examples, it is clear that European Union countries do not shelter ministers from legal investigations. 

In most cases, they either resign, or their powers are removed and they face legal proceedings, a standard that is part of the requirements of the European integration process for candidate countries./ S.Gj