Analysis from the regulatory impact assessment on the Law on Courts has been presented

The European Policy Institute – Skopje (EPI) organized a discussion and presentation of the working version of the Analysis from the application of regulatory impact assessment on the Law on Courts. Speaking at the event were the EPI Director, Dr. Simonida Kacarska, Minister of Justice, prof. Dr. Renata Deskoska, President of the Association of Judges and Judge in the Supreme Court of the Republic of Macedonia, Dr. Xhemali Saiti and Ivana Najdoska, Programme Director at the Institute for Democracy “Societas Civilis” – Skopje (IDSCS).

The findings from the working version of the Analysis were presented by EPI’s researcher, Iva Conevska.

According to the Minister Deskoska, almost all recommendations of the Venice Commission that have been given so far have been implemented. “The additional recommendations we received from the Venice Commission this month have been implemented,” – emphasized the Minister of Justice prof. Prof. Dr. Renata Deskoska.

As key changes in the part of the Law on Courts, Deskoska cited the changes that relate to the grounds for determining disciplinary measures for the judges. “The Venice Commission, as early as 2015, has given recommendations for specifying the grounds for taking disciplinary measures in order to ensure the independence of judges, but also to provide mechanism for ensuring responsibility for their unprofessional work,” said Deskoska.

According to Judge Saiti, judges have a bad rating in society, but their goal is to fight against this. “The reforms have provide sound solutions for judicial management, improvement of the status of judges, but the key issue is the financing of the judiciary,” said President of the Association of Judges and Judge in the Supreme Court, Dr. Xhemali Saiti.

He added that it is very important to use the present moment, because it will be difficult to get a new opportunity. “We are entering pre-accession reforms, there is a window of opportunity to make real changes in the judiciary,” Saiti added.

Presenting the analysis, Iva Conevska said that although from 2014 until now the number of judges in the Republic of Macedonia has decreased, it is still above the European average. “Nevertheless, some of the courts will not be able to function without the appointment of judges from other courts. Citizens’ access to the courts is limited due to the high geographical distance of some basic courts with extended jurisdiction”- added Conevska.

“According to the findings of the focus groups and interviews with judges from four appellate areas, it is necessary to increase the years of experience criteria for promotion of judges. This is a good indicator of the judges’ experience and their ability to deliver efficient and fair trial “- said Conevska.

Ivana Najdoska, the program director of IDSCS, emphasized the importance of implementing a regulatory impact assessment in the preparation of a particular policy or changes to laws. She added that the RIA is a process that is rarely applied because the laws are very quickly adopted. However, comparative RIA analyzes aim to bring this process closer to the institutions, organizations and all concerned citizens.

The project “Implementation of Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) over the Law on Courts” is supported by the Institute for Democracy “Societas Civilis” Skopje (IDSCS) in cooperation with the Center for Economic Analyzes (CEA), within the project “Impact Assessment of the Shadow Regulation: Promoting evidence-based policymaking “, financially supported by the European Union.