The Office of the People's Advocate was first established in the Albanian Constitution adopted in November 1998, while the law "On the People's Advocate" was approved by the Albanian Parliament in February 1999. This law was drafted taking into consideration the legislation of other European countries that had previously created such an institution. The management of the Office of the People's Advocate is monocratic. The People's Advocate is elected by three-fifths of all members of the Assembly for a 5-year term with the right to re-election.

The Office of the People's Advocate protects the rights, freedoms and legitimate interests of individuals from illegal and irregular actions or omissions of public administration bodies, as well as third parties acting on their behalf. Its mission is to prevent possible conflicts between public administration and individuals. The People's Advocate acts based on complaints or requests submitted to him. He also acts on his own initiative, for special cases made public, but must always obtain the consent of the interested party or the injured party afterwards.

In cases where the People's Advocate initiates the case review procedure on his own initiative and when the guardian or legal representative does not act, the consent of the injured party is not required when he is a minor or mentally incapacitated or with limited abilities, or for the protection of the rights of a large number of individuals.

In defense of the interests of a wider community, which may be affected by administrative proceedings, the People's Advocate has the right to initiate an administrative proceeding and participate in it, in accordance with the requirements of the Administrative Procedure Code.

The People's Advocate does not directly decide to grant rights to the complainant, but makes recommendations for remedying the violated right to the public administration body that he believes caused the violation. In cases where the relevant body does not respond to the recommendations of the People's Advocate, the latter can turn step by step to higher bodies in the hierarchy, even to the Assembly (Parliament) with a report, also proposing concrete measures for remedying the violated right.

The following persons and acts are outside the jurisdiction of the People's Advocate: