MAPPING OF THE POPULATION AT RISK OF STATELESSNESS IN ALBANIA Therefore, International agreements come after the Constitution in the ranking of norms, and ratified international treaties have direct effect in Albania. Article 122 of the Albanian Constitution emphases this idea by providing that international agreements, ratified by law, prevail over incompatible laws of Albania.30 Consequently, the aforementioned international acts are considered part of Albania’s legislation and so a number of important international legal safeguards against statelessness are subject to direct application in the country.31 However, one will see infra that the Albanian State has felt so far that the necessary measures for these safeguards can be decided and policed at a local level. 4.2. Current citizenship regime in Albania The Constitution of the Republic of Albania guarantees the fundamental rights and freedoms of foreigners and stateless people in the territory. In particular, it grants the entitlement to citizenship for persons born to an Albanian parent, and guarantees the safeguard against the loss of citizenship. The acquisition and relinquishment of Albanian nationality is regulated by Law no. 8389 dated 5th August 1998 “On Citizenship” as amended by Law no. 8442, dated 21st January 1999. The legislative changes which occurred in 1999 are the most recent reforms passed.32 In 1998, UNHCR was entrusted by its Executive Committee and by the UN General Assembly with providing technical and advisory services pertaining to the preparation and implementation of nationality legislation to interested states. After examination of the draft Law on Citizenship of Albania, UNHCR estimated that it was ‘of a high standard and, in principle, achieves this goal of the avoidance of statelessness’.33 Unfortunately, as will be developed infra, there are significant gaps between the theoretical legal framework and the actual functioning of the Albanian institutions.34 4.2.1. A combination of jus soli and jus sanguini The Law No. 8442 provides that “everyone born of at least one parent with Albanian citizenship automatically gains Albanian citizenship”. The Law also provides that a child born within the territory of the Republic of Albania of parents holding another citizenship who are lawful residents in the territory of the 30 See Euralius Law Drafting Manual: A Guide to the Legislative Process in Albania, 2006, available at: www.euralius.eu/en/archive-2?download=74:law-drafting-manual 31 See Ending Childhood Statelessness, A Study on Albania, TLAS/ENS Working Paper 06/15, p4, available at: https://www.statelessness.eu/sites/www.statelessness.eu/files/Albania.pdf 32 See Law on Albanian Citizenship, Law No. 8389, 6 September 1998, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6b5c10.html [accessed 11 February 2018] 33 UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), UNHCR: Analysis and Comments Draft Law on Citizenship of Albania, 21 April 1998, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6b31dab.html [accessed 16 March 2018] 34 See Ending Childhood Statelessness, A Study on Albania, TLAS/ENS Working Paper 06/15, p4, available at : https://www.statelessness.eu/sites/www.statelessness.eu/files/Albania.pdf UNHCR - TLAS / May 2018 33