5.  The applicant was born in 1975. He is currently serving a prison sentence.
6.  On 9 July 2002, following proceedings in absentia, the Gjirokastër District Court convicted the applicant of attempted armed robbery, negligent homicide and premeditated murder in relation to another criminal offence, and sentenced him to twenty-five years’ imprisonment. Three other co‑defendants, whose requests for the use of the summary procedure had been granted, were also found guilty. The applicant was represented by a court-appointed lawyer.
7.  On 7 October 2002, following an appeal by the three other defendants, the Gjirokastër Court of Appeal upheld the decision in the applicant’s absence.
8.  On 10 October 2007, upon the applicant’s extradition to Albania, the District Court accepted his application for leave to appeal out of time. The District Court stated in its reasoning that the postal service had noted that the applicant was living in Italy and that as a consequence he had not been aware of his conviction.
9.  On an unspecified date in October 2007 the applicant lodged his appeal. In the first place, he requested that his case be re-examined separately from that of his co-defendants on the grounds that he had not sought the use of the summary procedure. He relied on the Supreme Court’s unifying decision no. 2 of 29 January 2003 (see paragraph 16 below). Secondly, he requested that a fresh examination of the evidence be conducted in his presence and that a number of witnesses be questioned. Thirdly, he maintained that the authorities had failed to inform him about the judicial proceedings before the first-instance court.
10.  On 17 December 2007 the Gjirokastër Court of Appeal upheld the applicant’s conviction in absentia. The court ruled that the applicant had not put forward new evidence to change the outcome of those proceedings. His request had been directed against the probative value of evidence which had already been examined and decided upon. In upholding the conviction, the court relied on forensic evidence produced in 1997 and 1999 and on witness statements made in 2001 and 2002. The court further stated that the applicant had been duly informed as the authorities had issued a public notice. It finally noted that the summary procedure had been applied equally to all the defendants in accordance with the Supreme Court’s unifying decision of 29 January 2003 (see “Relevant domestic case law below”). Separating the cases could not be considered as the district court had not decided on that issue.
11.  On an unspecified date the applicant lodged an appeal against the Court of Appeal’s decision. He complained of a breach of his right to have witnesses questioned and evidence re-examined. He stressed the fact that in his appeal to the Court of Appeal he had asked for evidence to be obtained, including an identification parade, the questioning of a fourth person who had been present at the events, a face-to face confrontation between himself and the other co-defendants and so on. It had not been possible for him to obtain that evidence himself, only the courts or the prosecutor could have done that. The applicant also maintained the other complaints he had raised in his Court of Appeal case.
12.  On 5 March 2010 the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal, finding that it lacked any grounds of appeal as prescribed by law.
13.  On 21 February 2011 the applicant lodged a constitutional appeal with the Constitutional Court.
14.  On 9 May 2011 the applicant’s lawyer was notified of the Constitutional Court’s decision that his appeal was inadmissible.