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Two seminars on lawyer liability held in North Macedonia

Published: October 14, 2019

On 3 and 4 October 2019, two seminars were held in Skopje, which both covered the same subject of the civil liability of lawyers. The first seminar was aimed at judges and lawyers, whilst the target group for the second seminar was those who had passed the introductory course to the justice system for prospective judges and public prosecutors. The events were organised jointly by the Academy of Judges and Public Prosecutors “Pavel Shatev” and the IRZ.

Once the Director of the Academy, judge Natasha Gaber-Damjanovska, and lawyer Dr. Stefan Pürner from the IRZ had opened the seminar, lawyer Jelena Ristikj gave an introductory lecture. The Vice-President of the North Macedonia Bar Association provided a general overview of the law on lawyers in North Macedonia, during which she focussed in particular on the disciplinary law for lawyers as opposed to the subsequent civil law issues.

The lecture by Jelena Ristikj was followed by speeches from the lawyer from Skopje, Prof. Dr. Zoran Mihajlosk, and the lawyer Bertin Chab, who is Chief Counsel at Allianz Insurance in Munich. They each presented the proprietary side of professional errors made by lawyers in the laws of their own home countries.

Cases of lawyer liability are still rare in North Macedonia. This means that there is a lack of dogmatic understanding of these matters. This is precisely why knowledge from German legal practice could be helpful for the application and development of the law.

During the discussions at both seminars, it became clear that the high requirements imposed by German case law on legal diligence are seen as unusual by other countries but that the subject of lawyer liability is an important aspect of consumer protection.