Publications

The execution of sanctions is the final piece that closes the entire process of adjudication in criminal procedure. The lack of proper sanctions enforcement through a clear, understandable and fair procedure, the incomplete legal framework, as well as the inconsistent practice of the courts at the four appellate regions in North Macedonia, contributes to the negative public perception, especially in “high profile” cases. The Mission, in cooperation with the national Judges’ Association and the Skopje Basic Criminal Court, developed an Analysis of the practical problems of the procedure for execution of sanctions, addressing the legislative gaps and providing concrete legislative solutions. The Analysis includes diverse court practices from the appellate regions and recommends practical approaches to overcome certain challenges. Not available in English.

During the implementation of the current LCP, during trial monitoring activities and over discussion with national legal practitioners, it became obvious that one of the weaknesses among legal practitioners is the adequate use of expert opinions, expert witnesses and technical advisors as a tool for representing facts as evidence in Court, and their effective, efficient and financially justified conduct in accordance with the rules and principles of the national criminal procedure. The Law on Expertise, as lex specialis needs to be understood in the context of the LCP and the purpose of the expert witnesses during a criminal case trial. Therefore, the OSCE Mission to Skopje supported the drafting of this Guidebook for legal practitioners including positive and negative examples from the national court practice, ECtHR jurisprudence and additional elaborations of the novelties in the Law on Expertise.

The publication aims at clarifying the procedural legal concept of shifting the burden of proof, its meaning and scope, as well as all open issues during practical implementation of the proceedings before the Commission for Prevention and Protection against Discrimination and the national court, to ensure effective application of the Law on Prevention and Protection against Discrimination. It also focuses on helping legal practitioners in acquiring knowledge and skills in the area of equality law and the principle on non-discrimination, thus examples from the Court of Justice of the European Union and the European Court of Human Rights, as well as comparative practices from European countries, are widely used.

The publication comprises the internal and external assessments of the activities and the structure of the Academy for Judges and Public Prosecutors (AJPP). The internal assessment is focused on evaluating the decision-making processes, the management bodies, and the structure of the employees. This also includes the assessment of the training needs of management bodies and the employees of the AJPP, to raise their knowledge about diversity and gender equality. The analysis of the external activities assesses whether diversity and gender equality are included in the overall training conducted at the AJPP, including the bylaws for initial and continuous education and training, as well as the annual curriculums.

The execution of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights represents a significant and complex process that involves numerous actors involved in the execution itself or in the supervision of the execution, which may complicate and slow down the implementation of any measures and activities that should lead to the effective execution of the judgments. The training curricula was developed in co-operation with the national Academy for Judges and Public Prosecutors (AJPP). It was specifically designed for the current and future judges and public prosecutors attending training at the AJPP. Not available in English.

The publication was developed in co-operation with the national Academy for Judges and Public Prosecutors. It analyzes the individual measures of execution of judgements European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). The publication focuses on re-examination of a case or a reopening of proceedings following judgment of the ECtHR under which a violation of the European Convention of Human Rights is established, as one of the means to achieve the so- called restitutio in integrum. Not available in English.

The publication was developed in co-operation with the national Academy for Judges and Public Prosecutors. It analyzes the general execution measures and evaluates the current situation with the execution of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in cases against North Macedonia. It also identifies the changes, which have been done or are yet to be done as part of the process of execution of those judgments, detecting the key challenges in practice. Not available in English.

The publication was developed in co-operation with the national Academy for Judges and Public Prosecutors. It offers a general overview of the process of execution of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR): it explains the role of the Committee of Ministers at the Council of Europe; elaborates on the so-called general and individual measures of execution and reviews the national legal framework concerning the execution of judgments of the ECtHR. Not available in English.

The publication is a baseline study addressing gender and diversity considerations in the justice system by bringing international perspective on national understanding of the role of the women in judiciary and providing relevant data and analysis from a gender and diversity perspective (ethnicity, language, disability, age, social status, religion or belief). The study reflects on the current situation in North Macedonia and offers recommendations that would serve as a solid basis for future fact-based and sustainable interventions for building a more inclusive justice system in line with the good practice solutions highlighted by the OSCE/ODIHR.

The publication includes findings of the first national perception survey with women in North Macedonia and responses from the two focus groups discussions with victims of sexual extortion conducted in 2021. Some of the questions answered by the respondents include whether women recognized sextortion by public sector employees in exchange for provision of a public service as a form of corruption, if the officials in a position of power tended to request sexual services instead of money/bribes in order to provide the public service obliged to provide in accordance with the Laws, if sextortion was present in the private sector as well, as well as if respondents would report their own or someone else’s experience with this form of corruption. Findings of the report are intended to support the debate and eventually lead to criminalization of sexual extortion as an act of corruption in North Macedonia.