This Shadow Report consolidates into a single coherent whole all findings, conclusions, and recommendations resulting from the monitoring of the areas covered under Chapter 23 – Judiciary and Fundamental Rights. This is the eleventh such report published by the European Policy Institute (EPI) – Skopje, taking into account the comments and opinions of state institutions and non-governmental organizations. The previous ten reports covered the following periods: October 2014 – July 2015, July 2015 – April 2016, May 2016 – January 2018, June 2018 – March 2019, April 2019 – March 2020, April 2020 – September 2021, October 2021 – September 2022, October 2022 – September 2023, October 2023 – September 2024, and October 2024 – September 2025.
The report covers the period from the beginning of October 2025 up to the end of June 2026. The report presents data that are also relevant prior to October 2025, provided that they were necessary for contextualization or for clarifying developments from the current reporting period and are relevant to it. This report follows the structure of Chapter 23 and precedes the annual report of the European Commission (EC). At the end of each area, recommendations are highlighted in a text box.
The reporting period was marked by the implementation of the Reform Agenda of the Republic of North Macedonia under the EU Growth Plan for the Western Balkans, which represents a comprehensive package of measures to achieve the envisioned goals in the priority areas agreed with the EC, among which is the rule of law.