Justice Minister Bojan Marichikj told Friday’s opening of the Conference on Efficiency of Judges and Court Administration that analyses show an increase of efficiency and transparency by 60 percent through digitization, distance trials or online trials, and in addition, costs are reduced.
The pandemic, he pointed out, was a catalyst for the process that is essential for improving the efficiency of judges and court administration, and that is digitization.
“Unfortunately, digitization is met with resistance in some segments of society. Judiciary will certainly not be an exception. I hope that soon we’ll witness full digitization of 187 court rooms and 34 courts across the country,” Marichikj said.
In this regard, he underlined, the country has direct financial and expert support from the OSCE, the European Union, the United States, and the Norwegian government.
“With vision and hard work, we’re already on the path of modernization, a path of an even greater efficiency and better delivery of justice, as well as consistent law enforcement and protection as required by modern European standards,” said Marichikj.
According to him, judicial service is the engine of these reforms. The Justice Minister voiced confidence that the problem will be resolved by the end of the year and the status of the judicial service will increase.
Margarita Caca Nikolovska from the Institute of Human Rights, Supreme Court judge and Association of Judges president Xhemali Saiti, as well as president of the Association of Court Administration Sasho Temelkoski also addressed the opening on Friday.
The Conference is held as part of a project on joint commitment to better judicial achievement, funded by the European Union, co-financed by the British Embassy in Skopje, and implemented by the Center for Legal Research and Analysis in cooperation with the Institute of Human Rights and professional associations of judges and court administration.
