Албания

Declaration:

“According to article 12, first paragraph of the Optional Protocol, the Republic of Albania hereby declares it accepts the competence of the committee to receive and examine the communications in which a State party claims that another State party does not meet its obligations under the instruments referred to in this paragraph [to] which the State is a party.”

Declaration:

“Pursuant to Article 3 (2) of the Protocol, the Republic of Albania declares that the minimum age at which it permits voluntary recruitment into its national Armed Forces is nineteen years. This age limit is prescribed by Law nr. 9171, dated 22.1.2004.
The age permitted for conscription is established by Article 5, paragraph 2 of the Law no. 9171, dated 22.2.2004.”

The Council of Ministers of the Socialist People's Republic of Albania does not consider itself bound by article 57, para- graphs 2, 3, 4 and 6, of the Convention, which provide for recourse to compulsory arbitration for the interpretation and ap- plication of the Convention, and declares that in order for a dispute to be submitted to arbitration the agreement of all the parties to the dispute is necessary in each case.

The Government of the People's Republic of Albania states that the provisions of articles V and VII of the Convention on the Non-Applicability of Statutory Limitations to War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity are unacceptable because, in preventing a number of States from becoming parties to the Convention, they are discriminatory in nature and thus violate the principle of the sovereign equality of States and are incompatible with the spirit and purposes of the Convention.

The Government of the People's Republic of Albania does not consider itself bound by the provisions of article 44, paragraphs 2 and 3, of the Convention which provide for compulsory arbitration to settle disputes concerning the interpretation or application of the Convention. It declares that the agreement of all the parties in dispute is required in each particular case for the submission of the dispute to the International Court of Justice.

Article 9: The Government of the People's Republic of Albania considers that, in virtue of well-known principles of international law, all Government ships owned or operated by a State, without exception, irrespective of the purpose for which they are used, are subject to the jurisdiction only of the State under whose flag they sail.
Declaration:

The Government of the People's Republic of Albania declares that the definition of piracy as given in the Convention is not consistent with present international law and does not serve to ensure freedom of navigation on the high seas.

1. As regards Article VII : The People's Republic of Albania declares its disagreement with the last sentence of article VII and considers that the juridical effect of a reservation is to make the Convention operative as between the State making the reservation and all other States parties to the Convention, with the exception only of that part thereof to which the reservation relates.
2. As regards Article IX: The People's Republic of Albania does not consider itself bound by the provisions of article IX which provides that disputes between Contracting Parties con- cerning the interpretation or application of this Convention shall at the request of any one of the parties to the dispute be referred to the International Court of Justice for decision, and declares that for any dispute to be referred to the International Court of Justice for decision the agreement of all the parties to the dispute shall be necessary in each individual case.

Declaration:

Thanks to the conditions created by the popular democratic régime in Albania, the offences covered by this Convention do not find favourable ground for development there, since the social conditions which give rise to such offences have been elim- inated. Nevertheless, in view of the importance of the campaign against these offences in the countries where they still exist and the international importance of that campaign, the People's Republic of Albania has decided to accede to the Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others adopted on 2 December 1949 at the fourth session of the United Nations General Assembly.
Reservation to article 22:

The People's Republic of Albania does not consider itself bound by the provisions of article 22 which stipulates that any dispute between the parties to the Convention relating to its interpretation, application or execution shall, at the request of any one of the parties to the dispute, be referred to the International Court of Justice. The People's Republic of Albania declares that with respect to the competence of the International Court in that connexion, it will continue to maintain as in the past that for any dispute to be referred to the International Court of Justice for decision the agreement of all the parties to the dispute shall be necessary in each individual case.

The Government of the People's Republic of Albania does not consider itself bound by the provisions of article 33 of the Convention, which lays down that disputes between Contracting States concerning the interpretation or application of the Convention may be referred to the International Court of Justice by application from one of the parties to the dispute. The Government of the People's Republic of Albania declares, as it has done hitherto, that in each separate case the agreement of all the parties to the dispute is required for the submission of any dispute for arbitration.

...
As regards article XII: The People's Republic of Albania declares that it is not in agreement with article XII of the Convention and considers that all the provisions of the Convention should extend to Non-Self-Governing Territories, including Trust Territories.