North Macedonia – annual report 2023

Details: Published: September 4, 2024

Strategic Framework

Legal Policy Starting Point

Following the settlement of bilateral disputes between North Macedonia and Greece (2018) and Bulgaria (2022), the European Union officially opened accession negotiations with North Macedonia, which has been a member of NATO since 2020, in July 2022. The inclusion of the Bulgarian minority in the constitution – as a prerequisite for the actual negotiations to proceed – remains a matter of domestical debate.

The hasty reform of the anti-corruption regulations in the Criminal Code (CC) without the involvement of the ministerial expert group on the reform of the CC is alsostill being discussed controversially.

A reform government consisting of the social democratic SDSM party and parties from the Albanian minority has been in power since 2017. Following the resignation of the prime minister, who had been in office since January 2022, a technical government has been in office since January 28, 2024. The presidential election is scheduled for April 24, 2024 and the parliamentary election for May 8, 2024.

Overall Concept

IRZ‘s activities under the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe, which began in 2000, have been continuously strengthened since then. IRZ‘s partners in the projects implemented in North Macedonia with funding from the Federal Ministry of Justice and the Federal Foreign Office are the Ministry of Justice, the Constitutional Court, the “Pavel Shatev” Academy for Judges and Public Prosecutors, the government representative before the European Court of Human Rights, the non-governmental organization “Legis”, various academics and students at the Faculty of Law in Skopje. In recent years, IRZ has expanded the target group of its local activities and their sustainability through legal publications in the local language.

IRZ has focused on promoting young legal talent through measures that focus on judicial independence and effective trial management, as well as on activities in the field of constitutional law and human rights.

Focus of Activity in 2023

Constitutional Law, Human Rights and their Enforceability

Preparation of a study “Increased legal protection for citizens through comprehensive and effective constitutional complaints” and final conerence as part of the project “Promotion of constitutional complaints as the main means of protecting fundamental rights in North Macedonia”
Publication of two newsletters on the case law of the European Court of Human Rights in Macedonian and Albanian
Participation of the Constitutional Court of North Macedonia in the Regional Conference of Constitutional Courts on “Protection of the right to privacy”, jointly organized with the Constitutional Court of Montenegro

Administration of justice

Training component on the topic “Technique of drafting judgments: The written judgment in German criminal proceedings”, as part of the training courses for newly appointed judges and prosecutors at the “Pavel Shatev” Academy for Judges and Public Prosecutors

Criminal and Penitentiary Law

Legislative advice on the reform of the Criminal Code in the area of anti-corruption regulations

Basic and Further Training

Two study visits to Germany for newly appointed judges and public prosecutors on the topic “Conducting court hearings in civil and criminal proceedings actively and effectively”, in cooperation with the “Pavel Shatev” Academy for Judges and Public Prosecutors
Participation of participants from North Macedonia in the regional annual workshop of German-speaking IRZ alumni on the topic “Current developments in German law” (sponsored by the publishing house C.H. BECK, Munich) and in the regional language course on German legal terminology
Lecture on legal education in Germany at the Faculty of Law in Skopje

Project funded by the European Union

EU Twinning project “Enhancement of capacities of the Agency for Audio and Audiovisual Media Services and the Public Service Broadcaster”

Since June 2023, IRZ has been implementing the EU Twinning project “Enhancement of capacities of the Agency for Audio and Audiovisual Media Services and the Public Service Broadcaster” in North Macedonia. The project has a duration of 18 months and a budget of 788,000 Euros.

The project aims to support the work of the public broadcaster and the media agency in North Macedonia. This includes, in particular, strengthening institutional and administrative capacities. This is based on the legal and regulatory framework set by the European Union and the best practices within the EU member states.

The project supports the two aforementioned organisations in overcoming current and future challenges.

The first project component is aimed at the Agency for Audio and Audiovisual Media Services (AAAVMS). The AAAVMS is facing major challenges in connection with the country’s ongoing legal reform. Laws and regulations that are currently in the approval process have an impact on the working practices of the AAAVMS and are to be harmonised with the directive that applies to it. Another focus is on promoting media literacy and combating disinformation and unethical media reporting more effectively. To support this process, IRZ experts will offer capacity building in the form of workshops and training courses. In addition, European best practices will be jointly adapted to the Macedonian context and employees will be familiarised with them. The aim is to create sustainable capacities for the implementation of the AAAVMS Directive in changing national legislation.

The second component serves to support the public broadcaster of North Macedonia. This institution is confronted with particularly complex tasks resulting from its field of work and its historical context. The twinning project aims to meet these challenges through close cooperation. This includes improving the tools for monitoring and evaluating public opinion on public broadcasting services. In addition, the German experts want to support the production of higher quality programs based on appropriate audience segmentation and improved journalistic approaches.

Outlook

In 2024, IRZ will continue to carry out training and further education measures for legal staff and young legal professionals, thereby promoting a higher quality of application of the law. The continued cooperation with the Constitutional Court will take into account the fact that an EU project which aims to its support began at the end of 2023.