As part of the project “Judicial Action for Human Rights Protection”, the European Policy Institute (EPI) organized a specialized training for judges and public prosecutors, focusing on gender-based violence and the role of judicial authorities in the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process.
The training, held at the Academy for Judges and Public Prosecutors (AJPP), was officially opened by Mrs Eline Christoffersen Våge, Second Secretary, the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Belgrade. In her opening remarks, she highlighted Norway’s strong commitment to supporting justice, human rights, and democratic governance in the Western Balkans.
“As judges and public prosecutors, you are not just interpreters of the law – you are guardians of justice. Your decisions have a direct impact on victims of gender-based violence and on trust in institutions.” said Mrs Christoffersen Våge.
EPI’s director, Simonida Kacarska, in her opening remarks, thanked the AJPP, as well as the Center for Research and Policy Making and the partner organisations of the SMART Balkans regional project, for enabling EPI to organise trainings like this one and focus on improving the human rights protection in the country.
AJPP’s deputy director Ilir Iseni stressed the importance of the United Nations UPR mechanism for the judicial sector and the judges and public prosecutors as a tool for improving the protection of human rights.
The training focused on the United Nations UPR mechanism, with a particular emphasis on recommendations from the latest UPR cycle for North Macedonia. Ms. Natasha Boshkova, an expert from the EU Rule of Law project, presented an overview of the UPR process and highlighted the latest recommendations related to gender-based violence. Additionally, Mr. Igor Jadrovski from the Commission for Prevention and Protection from Discrimination addressed the issue of hate speech within the context of the UPR.
The “Judicial Action for Human Rights Protection” project is supported through the National Interventions Grant under the SMART Balkans – Civil Society for Shared Society in the Western Balkans regional project, implemented by Centar za promociju civilnog društva (CPCD), Center for Research and Policy Making (CRPM), and Institute for Democracy and Mediation (IDM), and financially supported by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (NMFA).
