THE REPUBLIC OF ALBANIA
THE ASSEMBLY
LAW
No. 8669 dated 26.10.2000
On
THE GENERAL CENSUS OF
POPULATION AND DWELLINGS
Pursue
to the Articles 78 and 83 of the Constitution, based upon the proposal of the
Council of Ministers,
The Assembly
Of the Republic of
Albania
decided
CHAPTER I
GENERAL PROVISIONS
Article 1
The aim of the census
1.
The
census aims at providing the parliament, the government, the local authorities,
the economic, scientific and cultural organisations, as well as the whole civil
society, with reliable statistical information that is needed for planning and
implementing general policies of development, for private and public analysis
and decision making, for scientific research and, in general, for improving the
citizens' knowledge and understanding of the demographic, economic and social
reality of the country.
2. The census should provide information
on:
a.
the
figure and the geographical distribution of the resident population;
b.
the
demographic structure and main characteristics of the population;
c.
the
number, the geographical distribution and the structure of dwellings and
buildings used for housing purposes;
d.
the
housing conditions of the population.
3. The census aims at providing
reliable information allowing the authorities
empowered by law to set up electoral lists and update
the civil registers.
Article 2
The object of the law
This law provides the organisation and
execution of a population and dwellings census in the territory of the Republic
of Albania.
Article 3
Use of terms
In
the meaning of this law the terms below shall be understood as follows:
a)
“Resident population” shall mean the
population consisting of individuals, who on the enumeration day are present in
the territory of the Republic, as well as those that are temporarily absent for
less than one year.
b)
“Dwelling” shall mean one or more
spaces, designated for dwelling, which have an independent entry to a street,
floor, courtyard, terrace and at the moment of the census is inhabited or is
destined to be inhabited by a person or group of persons.
Other concepts to be used in the enumeration process
shall be defined in the census instructions book.
Article 4
Obligation to respond
All the Albanian and foreign citizens,
excluding the foreign diplomatic personnel accredited in the Republic of
Albania, who at the enumeration day are inside the territory of the Republic,
are under obligation to accurately provide the information required for the
census concerning themselves as well as their direct relatives.
Article 5
The authority of the census
The
census is organised and carried into execution by the Statistical Institute
(INSTAT), under the supervision of the Central Commission for the Census and
with the support of census commissions in Prefectures and census offices
established in Communes and Municipalities. The competencies and relations of
these bodies are determined in this law.
Article 6
The date of the census and period of enumeration
The census moment is the midnight of the
31st of March 2001. The enumeration shall be executed within the
month of April 2001.
Article 7
The subject of the census
1. The census covers all urban and rural
areas and is therefore conducted in each city and village throughout the
territory of the Republic.
2. It includes the resident population as
well as all premises within the territory of the Republic that are used for
dwelling, independently if they are movable or immovable property.
Article 8
The data collected
The information collected by the census
consists of two categories of data:
a.
the
external identifiers of individuals, consisting on the name, father's name,
surname, address and topological identifiers.
b.
the
structural data on the characteristics of buildings, dwellings, households and
individuals requested for strict statistical purposes, in compliance with the
international recommendations.
Article 9
Data protection and professional secrecy
The
data collected by the census are protected in conformity with legislation in
force. In particular, INSTAT and the Ministry of Local Government shall take
the following steps:
a.
The
staff who, through involvement in census operations, processing of electoral
lists as well as updating of civil registers, and have knowledge of personal
data, are subject to a duty of professional secrecy as provided by the Law No.
7687 dated 16.03.1993 “on Statistics” and the Law No. 8517 dated 22.07.1999 “On
the protection of personal data”. A public authority shall not derogate from
this duty, under any circumstance. Violation of this duty remains punishable
even after the termination of the employment relationship with census.
b.
INSTAT
and the Ministry of Local Government shall take all the appropriate technical,
organisational and security measures to prevent unauthorised access to
installations where the above mentioned data are conserved, as well as to
prevent unauthorised processing of these data.
c.
The
data collected for statistical purposes, after technical controls regarding
their accuracy and consistency carried out by the census staff, are made
anonymous by deleting the external identifiers from the electronic files.
d.
The
anonymous individual data can be communicated to an authorised third party only
for activities that are in conformity with the statistical aim of the census.
The recipient of the data is subject to the duty of professional secrecy; it
takes the appropriate security measures and ensures that any publication of
statistical results will conform to the provisions of this law.
Article 10
The results of the census
The
statistical results of the census shall be a common good of the whole Albanian
society. They shall be made available on the following conditions:
a.
INSTAT
presents and publishes the provisional and final results of the census on
scientific and professional basis.
b.
The
statistical results both at country and local level, are publishable without
restriction. However, they must be presented in a form that reasonably
precludes any possibility that single individuals be identified.
CHAPTER II
COMPOSITION, COMPETENCIES AND RELATIONS OF
THE BODIES IN CHARGE OF THE CENSUS
Article 11
Central Commission of the Census
The
Central Commission of the Census is composed of 23 members as following:
a.
Deputy
Prime Minister and Minister of Government
Co-ordination Chairman
b.
Minister
of Finance Member
c.
Minister
of Local Government “
d.
Minister
of Economic Cooperation and Trade “
e.
Minister
of Justice “
f.
Minister
of Labour and Social Affairs “
g.
Minister
of Education and Science “
h.
Minister
of Public Works “
i.
Minister
of Transports “
j.
Minister
of Health “
k.
Minister
of Public Order “
l.
Minister
of Defence “
m.
Minister
of Foreign Affairs “
n.
President
of Academy of Science “
o.
General
Director of INSTAT “
p.
Head
of Real Estate Property Office “
q.
General
Director of Institute of Social Insurance “
r.
Dean
of the Economic Faculty at the University of Tirana “
s.
Dean
of Social Sciences Faculty at the
University of Tirana “
t.
Head
of the Demographic Department (INSTAT) “
u.
Head
of statistics section in the Department
of Statistics, Informatics and Applied
Mathematics
in Economic Faculty at the University of Tirana “
v.
Three
specialists on the fields of economics, informatics
and
demography selected by the central commission
of
the Census “
Article 12
Competencies of Central Commission of the Census
The Central Commission of the Census has
the following competencies:
a.
It
compiles and approves its own regulation.
b.
It
supervises the preparation and execution of the census and advises INSTAT on
the statistical information expected from the public authorities, the
scientific circles and the civil society.
c.
It
guarantees the co-ordination of work between ministries and central bodies in
view to the census as well as the support of scientific organisations.
d.
It
proposes to the Council of Ministers the membership of the census commissions
in prefectures as well as of the census offices in municipalities and communes
and decides their duties.
Article 13
Institute of Statistics
The
Institute of Statistics (INSTAT) has the following competencies:
a.
It
compiles the program of work, defines the methodology, selects the appropriate
technical means and software programs, draws the questionnaire, issues the
necessary instructions and orientations and conducts the preparation and the
execution of the census on independent scientific and professional basis.
b.
It
manages the human and financial resources provided for the census and reports
to the Central Commission of the Census and to international donors on the use
of these resources.
c.
It
informs the relevant governmental authorities and bodies on the steps that
should be taken for the census, conducts the public information campaign and
reports to the Central Commission on the development of the census operations.
d.
It
establishes the terms of reference and training guidelines that must be applied
by the census commissions in the prefectures and census offices in
municipalities and communes for the selection and training of the census staff.
It conducts the fieldwork by registering the dwellings and buildings and takes
all the necessary measures to ensure the timely and correct completion of the
census, in co-operation with the census organs in municipalities and communes.
e.
It
presents and publishes the preliminary and final results of the census.
Article 14
Census Commissions in the Prefecture
The
Council of Ministries, on the proposal of the Central Commission of the Census,
establishes a Census Commission in each Prefecture. This Commission, has the following responsibilities:
a.
Following
the instructions and orientations of INSTAT, it organises the preparatory work
in view of the census within the territory of the prefecture, it selects the
census staff and trains the controllers and takes all the necessary measures
for carrying out in time and correctly the census process.
b.
It
provides technical assistance to census offices in the municipalities and
communes that are within the jurisdiction of prefecture and performs periodic
inspections in these offices regarding to the development of census operations.
c.
It
reports every week to INSTAT on the development of census operations in the
prefecture, while during the week of census reports every day.
d.
In
co-operation with INSTAT and the census office in municipality and commune
organises the work for taking and sending the census questionnaires and related
materials from this commission to the census office in municipality and
commune.
Article 15
Census offices in the municipalities and communes
The
Council of Ministries, with the proposal of the Central Commission of the
Census, establishes a Census Office in each commune and municipality. This
Office has the following tasks:
a) Following
the instructions and orientations of INSTAT, it takes all necessary measures
for ensuring the normal development of the census operations within the
territory of the municipality or commune and provides information and
assistance to census staff in cities and villages.
b)It
selects and trains the enumerators and controls the implementation of their
duties.
c)It
reports every week to the census commission in the prefecture on the
development of the census process within the territory of the municipality or
commune, while during the census week reports every day.
d)It
takes appropriate steps for ensuring good reception of census materials in the
municipality or commune, safe depositing of these materials and timely delivery
of them to the Census Commissions in the Prefecture.
CHAPTER III
CENSUS PROCEDURES
Article 16
Publicity
The
aims and procedures of the census, as well as the legal obligations related to
it, shall be made public through the media and by means of a broad information
campaign, conducted by INSTAT. The information campaign should start at least 4
weeks prior the beginning of the census.
Article 17
Central Office for the registration of immovable property
The
Central Office for the Registration of Immovable Property shall make available
on time to INSTAT the maps that
indicate the placement of the immovable property.
Article 18
Census staff
1.
Census
Staff is composed of:
a.
enumerators,
who, equipped with a distinctive official identification sign, go to every
residence in order to interview the inhabitants and fill the census
questionnaire accurately;
b.
controllers,
who support and control the work of a number of enumerators;
c.
supervisors,
who support and control the work of a number of controllers;
d.
operators,
who enter the data of the questionnaires in computerised systems;
e.
managerial
staff, that organises and conducts the preparation, information, logistics and
administration of the census;
f.
statisticians,
demographers and other staff, who process the data, analyse the aggregates and
produce the statistical results of the census.
2.
INSTAT
establishes the criteria for the selection, employment and training of census
staff, that is appointed as follows:
a.
appointment
of enumerators is made by the census office at municipality or communes;
b.
appointment
of controllers is made by the Census Commission in the Prefecture on the
proposal of the Census Office at municipality or communes;
c.
appointment
of supervisors is made by the Census Commission in the Prefecture;
d.
appointment
of operators, managerial staff and scientific experts is made by INSTAT.
Article 19
Prohibition of similar data collections
1. During a period of time of 6 weeks
prior the execution of the census and during the week of the collection of
census data it is prohibited to all individuals and organisations to collect
similar data within the territory of the Republic.
2. In conformity with legislation in force,
all subjects who during the period mentioned above intend to collect
information on individuals and dwellings or related to private and commercial
activities, shall request a special authorisation to the Central Commission of
the Census.
CHAPTER IV
ADMINISTRATIVE CONTRAVENTIONS
Article 20
Contraventions
1.
Any breach to the rules provided in article 4 and 9 shall be considered as an
administrative infringement and shall be punishable with a fine of 10000 to
20000 lek.
2.
Any breach of the rules provided in the article 19, shall be considered as an
administrative infringement and shall be punishable with a fine of 15000 to
20000 lek.
Article 21
The
punishments by fine of administrative infringements set forth in article 20 are
given from the chairman of the Census Commission in the Prefectures. A claim
against this decision can be filed at the Central Census Commission within 10
days of the declaration of the decision. A claim against the decision of the
Central Census Commission can be filed at the Court within 10 days of the
declaration of the decision. its
The
procedures for fining and cashing of fines are regulated by law no. 7697 date
07.04.1993 “On administrative contraventions”.
CHAPTER V
FINAL PROVISIONS
Article 22
Within
2 months from the entry into effect of this law, the Council of Ministers shall
issue the relevant regulations in compliance with the general principles set
forth in articles 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 of this law.
Article 23
The
data collected during the census in March - April 2001 shall not be used for
setting up the electoral lists of the parliamentary elections of the year 2001.
Article 23
This
law enters into effect 15 days after its publication in the Official Journal.
CHAIRMAN OF PARLIAMENT
SKENDER GJINUSHI
Published at the Official Journal 36/2000 Dt. 15.
11. 2000