A letter sent to the Research Directorate on 16 March 1998 by the first secretary of the Republic of Albania Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York, who is also a PhD candidate in cultural anthropology at the Graduate Centre of CUNY in New York, states the following:

Question 1. Is there a custom or tradition in Albania by which people who are married in a civil ceremony continue to refer to each other as fiancées after the marriage, and are regarded and referred to by society as fiancées after the marriage, until a large celebration involving family members of the couple takes place?

Answer: In Albania people refer to each other as fiancées till the moment a large family celebration take place. People call this celebration "dasma" (the wedding). As for the civil ceremony, which declares them as husband and wife in relation to the state, it may take place before or after "the wedding". In case it happens before the wedding, it may change their status in relation to the state, but they consider themselves (and also their families do refer to them) as "fiancées".

Question 2: Is this custom still operative in Albania?

Answer: To my knowledge this custom is still operative in Albania. However, since the re-opening of the religious institutions in 1990, a religious ceremony replaces sometimes the civil one.

Question 3: Is there a law or document (analogous to the Kanun which pertains to vendettas) that codifies the procedures to be followed for this custom?

Answer: For as far as I know there is no document or law pertaining to this custom. I think that this phenomenon represents a continuous underground fight between the establishment of the law of state and the persistence of popular tradition.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

Reference

Republic of Albania Permanent Mission to the United Nations, New York. 16 March 1998. Letter sent to the Research Directorate by the first secretary.

Information on whether people who were military deserters in 1997 have been subjected to prosecution since March 1997 could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

Sources Consulted

CSCE Digest [Washington]. Monthly.

Electronic sources: IRB databases, LEXIS/NEXIS, Internet, REFWORLD (UNHCR database), World News Connection (WNC).

News from Helsinki Watch [New York]. Monthly.

Resource Centre country file on Albania.

Transition [Prague]. Twice monthly.

Uncaptive Minds [Washington]. Quarterly.