This paper examines how Albania’s Constitutional Court has contributed to strengthening democratic civil society through the protection of human rights, particularly in the realm of administrative law, following the 2016 constitutional reform. Since then, individuals can directly file constitutional complaints in cases of alleged fundamental rights violations–an essential indicator of democratic maturity. Between 1 January 2022 and 31 December 2024, the Court issued 197 decisions on individual constitutional complaints. In 2024, 90% (76 out of 84) of decisions involved such complaints, with 32% (27 cases) relating to administrative law. Among these, 89% referenced the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), 37% cited the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) case-law, and 37% referred to both. In 2023, 91% (64 out of 70) of decisions addressed individual complaints, with 43% (30 cases) involving administrative law. Of these, 80% applied the ECHR, 40% cited ECtHR case-law, and 37% referenced both. In 2022, 81% (35 out of 43) of decisions addressed individual complaints, with 51% (18 cases) concerning administrative matters. Among these, 67% invoked the ECHR, while 44% cited ECtHR jurisprudence, and 44% referred to both. The most frequent human rights themes were: (1) unconstitutionality of administrative acts; (2) fair trial and due process; (3) judicial delays; (4) property rights and expropriation; and (5) access to justice. The most frequently applied provisions were Art. 6 (right to a fair trial), Art. 13 (effective remedy), and Art. 1 of Protocol No. 1 (protection of property). Albania’s evolving jurisprudence illustrates a growing alignment with international human rights standards and highlights the increasing role of constitutional adjudication in safeguarding individual freedoms against administrative action.
This article examines internal auditing within territorial collectivities in Morocco. The main objective of the research is to assess the rate of implementation of internal audit units within territorial collectivities, given that the legal establishment of this function only occurred in 2015. The study also seeks to highlight the challenges and prospects associated with this experience. The study adopts an interpretivist philosophy and a qualitative approach, using interactive interviews and purposive sampling to collect and analyse empirical data. A comparative approach was also employed to enrich the analysis. This research constitutes an in-depth case study with a limited exploratory scope, based on nine interviews conducted through a selective sampling method in order to achieve sample saturation. Additional data were collected through documentary research. The field of research is limited to the Fez-Meknes Region and includes four territorial entities representing the three levels of decentralisation. The results of this empirical study indicate that the internal audit function is not yet widely established within territorial collectivities. With the exception of certain entities, notably the 12 regions, most territorial collectivities have not implemented this new function due to several factors, including limited financial resources, the absence of an audit culture, a lack of specialised human resources, and insufficient political will. The importance of this study lies in its contribution to knowledge concerning the modernisation of territorial collectivities in developing countries, particularly Morocco, where the number of indexed articles addressing internal control within territorial administrations remains very limited. Its significance also stems from the importance of control systems within public and private organisations and their impact on performance, as well as on administrative and financial governance. In any case, this research may constitute an initial attempt to highlight the implementation of internal auditing in these administrations. It may provide future researchers with a general basis for exploring this subject from different perspectives using other samples, and potentially for investigating other aspects of territorial collectivity management.
Decision making as such is part of everyday processes in various spheres. The research question that this study aims to answer is: Is it possible to use the TOPSIS technique to evaluate local government entities? The research question is addressed through the main objective of the research, which is to introduce TOPSIS technique (from both a theoretical and practical perspective) as a suitable tool for decision making in the conditions of local self-government. The main objective is achieved through four specific objectives (SO) focused on theoretical background (SO1), methodological framework (SO2), application background (SO3), and practical application in the field of local government (SO3). The theoretical section offers a brief classification and overview of MCDMs, focusing on the identification of the position of the TOPSIS technique. Over 120 relevant publications were used for this purpose. The methodological part presents the actual computation process of this method, with emphasis on selected approaches to determine the importance of the criteria under consideration. The paper also presents an overview of methods for determining the importance of criteria in combination with the TOPSIS technique. The most used methods include the Entropy method and evaluation by an expert group (paired comparison method). The fourth section offers empirical studies that have used this decision- making tool for their own research needs in the field of local government. 136 publications from the WoS database since 2014 have been identified using the analytical tool VOSviewer. The last part of the manuscript presents a case study of the application of TOPSIS techniques in Slovak conditions. 8 regional cities are evaluated using 4 criteria. The presented research can serve as a basic starting point for familiarizing oneself with this method and its use, not only in the context of local government.
This article examines the implementation of co-production in strengthening urban village community resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic in Surabaya, Indonesia. Departing from the argument that limited state capacity constrained government responses to complex pandemic pressures, the study positions co-production as a critical governance mechanism through which local communities, public authorities, health workers, security actors, and volunteers jointly contributed to crisis management. Using a qualitative case study approach, the research draws on twenty semi-structured interviews with urban village actors, COVID-19 Task Force members, neighbourhood leaders, and residents, complemented by regulatory documents, government reports, field documentation, media sources, and relevant literature. The study focuses on the Kampung Tangguh Jogo Suroboyo programme as a community-based resilience initiative institutionalised through mayoral regulations and implemented at the neighbourhood level. The findings show that urban village communities were not merely passive recipients of government policy, but active co-producers involved in institutional design, participatory planning, decision-making, communication, capacity-building, implementation, and accountability. The co-production process was supported by several key elements, including legal legitimacy, flexible institutional arrangements, deliberative community meetings, WhatsApp-based coordination, volunteer training, collective leadership, social capital, and locally mobilised resources. The article demonstrates that co-production generated public value by enhancing trust, collective compliance, social solidarity, and adaptive problem-solving during the pandemic. However, it also identifies structural challenges, particularly the gap between delegated community responsibilities and limited financial support from the government. While the local government provided regulatory legitimacy and some operational support, much of the implementation depended on community self-help, voluntary labour, and informal social networks. Theoretically, the study contributes to the co-production and crisis governance literature by offering a contextualised framework for understanding how community-based co-production operates under conditions of uncertainty and constrained state capacity. Practically, it highlights the importance of volunteer empowerment, digital coordination, social capital, and adequate resource allocation for sustaining community resilience beyond emergency periods.
Pandemija bolesti COVID-19 imala je značajan utjecaj na različite industrije diljem svijeta u 2020. i godinama koje su uslijedile. Glavni izazov za europska gospodarstva bio je kako zaštititi zaposlenike i pritom osigurati kontinuitet gospodarstva (Sacks, 2020.). Pritom su države članice EU-a uvele različite mjere za zaštitu radnika i jačanje otpornosti poslodavaca, kao i za poticanje socijalnog dijaloga (Peromingo, 2020.). Cilj je rada analizirati neke od prvih utjecaja pandemije bolesti COVID-19 na radnike u Hrvatskoj te doprinijeti znanju o ekonomskim i socijalnim učincima pandemije. Na temelju mješovitog istraživačkog pristupa (intervjui s radnicima, N=16 i online anketa, N=520) analiziraju se različiti utjecaji pandemije na promjene u razini prava radnika te na uvjete i obilježja rada, i to na dvije skupine radnika: one s ugovorima o radu na neodređeno vrijeme i radnike s ugovorima o privremenom („sezonskom“) radu. Rezultati istraživanja pokazali su različit intenzitet utjecaja pandemije s obzirom na različite industrije, ali generalno je pandemija imala učinke na različite prilagodbe rada novim uvjetima, i to na uvjete rada i razinu prava (promjene u broju radnih sati, povećanje radnih zadataka, promjene u razini plaća) te fleksibilizaciju oblika rada (širenje prakse rada od kuće i fleksibilno radno vrijeme). U većini dimenzija intenzitet promjena izraženiji je kod „sezonskih“ radnika. Kriza COVID-19 otvorila je i nova pitanja u vezi s kvalitetom poslova, npr. kako osigurati uvjete za rad od kuće koji su zadovoljavajući i za poslodavce i za radnike te pitanja prilagodbe sustava socijalnog osiguranja promjenama na tržištu rada i budućim izazovima.
