The German Foundation for International Legal Cooperation e.V. (IRZ) has been advising the expert group from the Ministry of Justice of North Macedonia on the comprehensive reform of its criminal code since 2020. Prof. Dr. Vlado Kambovski is responsible for the content of the weekly online sessions and of the work of the experts in general. The group is made up of about 30 legal experts from the academic and business worlds. Another organisation involved is the OSCE Mission in Skopje.
As part of the legislative consultation by the IRZ, various German legal experts and legal practitioners prepared a large number of written expert opinions on the draft criminal law provisions on topics such as asset confiscation, corruption in the health sector, dissemination of untrue information, the Istanbul Convention and economic crime.
After the expert group had dealt intensively with the individual expert reports, the online format enabled the direct involvement of two German experts on 20 September 2021:
Dr Mohamad El-Ghazi, Professor of Criminal Law and Law of Criminal Procedure at the University of Trier
Dr. Till Zimmermann, Professor of Criminal Law and Law of Criminal Procedure including European and international references at the University of Trier
The pair recently founded the Trier Institute for Money Laundering and Corruption Criminal Law (TrIGeKo).
The online discussions focussed mainly on the issues of money laundering, fraud, embezzlement and corruption. The consultation therefore revealed the advantages and disadvantages of an all-crime approach as well as legal-political controversies. The penalties for money laundering in relation to the penalties for predicate offences were also discussed, taking German and European legislation into account. It was helpful here that the expert group from the Ministry of Justice of North Macedonia had at their disposal a Macedonian translation of the German Criminal Code prepared by the IRZ in book form.
Invitation to the kick-off meeting for the EU Twinning Project North Macedonia
The German Foundation for International Legal Cooperation e. V. (IRZ), under the auspices of the Croatian Data Protection Authority, is organising the kick-off meeting to present the “Support to the Implementation of the Modernised Data Protection Legal Framework” twinning project for the benefit of the Data Protection Authority of the Republic of Northern Macedonia (RNM).
The venue for the event is the DoubleTree by Hilton Skopje, Blvd. ASNOM no.17, Skopje, and the kick-off meeting will be held on 30 September 2021 from 9.30 am to 12.00 pm.
The participants who will present the project objectives during the kick-off meeting include government representatives from the EU delegation in the RNM, project leaders from the RNM, Germany and Croatia, as well as experts from the Northern Macedonian, Croatian and German data protection authorities.
The aim of this project is to improve the protection of fundamental rights and the national system for the protection of personal data in the RNM in line with the standards of the EU acquis, as well as to enhance the performance of the data protection authority in implementing the modernised data protection framework. The new Personal Data Protection Act (RNM Official Gazette No. 42/20), which implements the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), will be promoted as part of these measures. The new Personal Data Protection Act and the General Data Protection Regulation bring significant changes to the current system. The new law introduces new definitions and concepts in the field of personal data, imposes new obligations on data controllers and processors and strengthens the rights of data subjects.
Under the Personal Data Protection Act adopted in February 2020, controllers and processors are required to adapt their business processes to the Act within 18 months of its entry into force. This deadline expires at the end of August 2021. The event will therefore be an opportunity to emphasise the obligations of controllers/processors once again, inform citizens of their rights and raise public awareness of the importance of personal data protection.
A central topic of the kick-off meeting will be the presentation of the results of the digital survey conducted among data controllers in the RNM, followed by a panel discussion with data protection experts from the RNM, Croatia and Germany. Another panel discussion is dedicated to analysing the opportunities and possibilities arising from the upcoming changes to the legal framework for data protection in the RNM.
The EU underlines the urgent need to focus on the protection of personal data to ensure that the world's fast-growing digital business models develop in a way that is compatible with respect for the fundamental human rights of all individuals with regard to the processing of personal data.
The principle of data protection is a central part of the EU's digital policies and strategies, as set out in Article 8 of Title II of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. The right to the protection of personal data is a fundamental human right, but also an economic necessity – without consumer trust in the way their data is processed, there can be no sustainable growth of the European data-driven economy.
On July 1st, Tuesday, an official online presentation of the Twinning project Support to the Implementation of the Modernised Data Protection Legal Framework MK 18 IPA JH 01 20 EuropeAid/170648/DD/ACT/MK was held during the online meeting of the project partners. The leading member state in the project is the Republic of Croatia, represented by the Croatian Personal Data Protection Agency which will be co-operating with the Central Finance and Contracting Agency (CFCA) and the German Foundation for International Legal Cooperation (IRZ), acting as the Junior project partner. The beneficiary institution is the Personal Data Protection Agency of the Republic of North Macedonia.
The budget of the project amounts to 700,000 EUR and it will be implemented within 15 months. The aim of the Twinning project is to further improve the implementation of personal data protection and the national personal data protection system in North Macedonia in line with the European acquis. The Project Leader is Mr Igor Vulje, deputy director of the Croatian Personal Data Protection Agency. The Junior Project Leader is Mr Lukas Gundermann, legal advisor with the Federal Ministry of Justice and for Consumer Protection.
During the presentation of the project, in his opening speech, the Director of the Croatian Personal Data Protection Agency, Mr Zdravko Vukic, thanked for the trust and opportunity to implement this Twinning project in North Macedonia.
“We understand the difficulties that you are facing on your way, because we were recently facing similar ones. Together with our experienced German colleagues, we can face these challenges successfully, and support you on your path towards the European Union. I would like to thank our partners in this project, the German Foundation for International Legal Cooperation (IRZ), the Croatian Central Finance and Contracting Agency and our German colleagues for the partnership in this project and we are looking forward to our successful cooperation. I am confident that this project, will provide a solid foundation for future work of the North Macedonian Personal Data Protection Agency and other relevant North Macedonian institutions in the area of data protection“, emphasized Mr Vukić.
The Director of the Personal Data Protection Agency of North Macedonia, Mr Imer Aliu, who is also the Project Leader of the beneficiary, thanked everyone for their support and stressed that the Twinning project starts at a crucial time for the Agency, as the process of harmonising other relevant acts with the new Law on Personal Data Protection ends in August.
“The Agency has been established 16 years ago and is constantly developing. This project is very important for strengthening the institutional capacity of the Agency. The Agency has an experienced and dedicated team that will cooperate with the colleagues and experts from Croatia and Germany, and the successful and fruitful cooperation will continue after the completion of the project”, Mr Aliu pointed out.
