In September 2022, the Home Office published a new Country Policy and Information Note (CPIN) on blood feuds in Albania. David Neale, legal researcher at Garden Court Chambers, has provided an in-depth review of the publication, which you can read here.

Mr Neale argues the new CPIN on blood feuds is unconvincing. The existing Country Guidance case EH (blood feuds) Albania CG [2012] UKUT 348 (IAC) accepted that sufficiency of protection in the country, including internal relocation, will not always be available.

The new CPIN explicitly argues that there are “very strong grounds supported by cogent evidence” to justify a departure from EH as regards sufficiency of protection. Mr Neale considers the evidence insufficient to provide the strong grounds necessary to depart from the conclusions in EH. He points to substantial evidence that Albania continues to suffer from serious problems with corruption, impunity, and inequitable enforcement of the law.

The CPIN also inadequately reflects the country guidance case law and country background evidence on internal relocation. EH should not be read in isolation, and Mr Neale references other case law that clearly illustrates internal relocation is unlikely to be a realistic option for victims pursued by a sufficiently motivated persecutor (AM and BM (Trafficked women) Albania CG [2010] UKUT 80 (IAC); and BF (Tirana – gay men) Albania CG [2019] UKUT 93 (IAC)).

In his conclusion, Mr Neale writes, “to certify a claim as clearly unfounded based on the materials in the CPIN would, in the circumstances, be manifestly unlawful”.