The issue of sanctioning and protecting fundamental human rights and freedoms gained special importance after World War II. In addition to the fundamental principles established in the Charter of the United Nations regarding the internationalization and promotion of human rights and freedoms, the international community adopted two important instruments in the field of human rights: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 10, 1948, and the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, adopted by the Council of Europe, signed in Rome in 1950 and entered into force in 1953. While the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 was considered a shared ideal to be achieved by all peoples and all nations, since it was not legally binding for states to implement, the European Convention on Human Rights went beyond just proclaiming rights and freedoms. It also established a control mechanism to ensure mandatory respect for the rights it declared. The fundamental human rights provided in the 1998 Constitution of the Republic of Albania are based on the European Convention on Human Rights. Albania has given the Convention supra-legal authority, placing it in the hierarchy of legal sources above laws, but not above the Constitution. Only the restrictions of the Convention have been elevated to constitutional level. This means that the European Convention on Human Rights represents the minimum protection guaranteed by laws that set limits on human rights, but it does not prevent domestic law from advancing further in the protection of fundamental human rights. Like all constitutions of democratic states, the Albanian Constitution includes a catalog of fundamental rights and freedoms, divided into: individual rights and freedoms, political rights and freedoms, economic, social, and cultural rights and freedoms. It considers these rights as indivisible, inalienable, and inviolable. However, absolute, unrestricted rights do not exist. The most important limitations on rights relate to the obligation to respect the fundamental constitutional principles. Human rights cannot be exercised to a point where they might harm the rule of law, democracy, the sovereignty of the people, human dignity, peace, etc. The restriction of human rights can only be made by law. Restrictions may be imposed for the protection of the rights of others, as well as the protection of general interests. The Albanian Constitution also guarantees that if rights are restricted, it must be: proportional to the situation that made the restriction necessary, not harm the essence of the right, and not exceed the limitations provided in the European Convention on Human Rights.