North Macedonia, in the area of the judiciary, has made great progress, says Minister of Justice Bojan Maricic regarding the EC Progress Report on the country that was released yesterday.
-The EC progress reports on North Macedonia are realistic, in the area of the judiciary system there is great progress, the efforts for the activity of the Judicial Council are recognized, there is praise for the Academy of Judges, there are multiple elements that the reforms are being implemented. We are moving in the right direction. We have an moderate assessment, moderately prepared. The public service is not touched because there are too many critical circumstances. The SPO cases have continued, much work has been done in these four years that have moves us from a “captured state”, said Minister Maricic at today’s guest appearance in Studio 10 on TV24.
He points out that we must not forget that we have been dealing with mitigating the consequences of covid for a year and a half.
-The report of the EC is realistic, the fact is that it is good that the opposition is in Parliament, says Maricic.
In the EC Progress Report on North Macedonia that was presented yesterday in the European Parliament in Strasbourg for all six countries of the Western Balkans together with the 2021 Enlargement package, it is said that the judicial system is “moderately prepared” for EU membership.
-Small progress has been made in regards to the implementation of the strategy for judicial reform, which additionally responds to the recommendations of the Venice Commission and the Expert group on the rule of law. Efforts are still needed to ensure systematic implementation of the updated action plan of the judicial reform strategy and human resources strategy for the judiciary and prosecutor’s office, assesses the European Commission.
The EC assesses that North Macedonia shows moderate preparedness also in the fight against corruption and that the country is strengthening the process of prosecuting crime and corruption, including also high-profile cases.
The country is urged to also improve conditions in prisons and to strengthen the alternatives to prison sentences.
Translation: N. Cvetkovska
