THE WESTERN BALKANS TRIAL MONITORING REPORT FACTSHEET
From Paper to Practice Evaluating the Effectiveness of Judicial Responses to Serious Organised Crime and Corruption Review Period July 2021 - March 2024
NORTH MACEDONIA Trial monitoring results on serious organised crime and corruption (OCC) cases
HOW FOCUS The Project's Methodology, fairness developed and adapted by the OSCE ODIHR based on its Trial Monitoring Manual & drawing on the extensive efficiency experience of OSCE field operations in monitoring OCC cases, encompasses trial monitoring from capacities/performance the confirmation of indictment to the final and binding verdict. strategic use of judicial tools CASES UNDER Supreme Court of the MONITORING Republic of North Macedonia organised crime corruption 40
30 Appellate Court Skopje
number of cases 20
10 Basic Criminal Court Skopje
0 cases
REPORT FINDINGS The Project’s trial monitoring identified symptoms of systemic challenges at the institutional, legislative and policy level. However, initiatives are already underway to address many aspects of the issues identified in this Report. These include judicial reform strategies and action plans, steps to enhance transparency as well as adoption of more efficient trial management practices. These are substantial investments, that with sustained efforts can lead to substantial progress.
The main identified areas for further improvement relate to:
LENGTH OF PROCEEDINGS FROM INDICTMENT
LENGTH OF PROCEEDINGS up to 1 year TO FINAL JUDGEMENT
percentage of productive hearings 1 to 2 years 2 to 3 years length of appellate proceedings 3 to 4 years 4 to 5 years consistency of case management 5 to 6 years system use 6 to 7 years 7+ years 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 number of cases TRANSPARENCY QUALITY OF LEGAL ACTS anonymization of legal acts drafting of indictments
charges substantiation consistency of legal provisions for publication of verdicts details on financial gain or damage elections, promotions and disciplinary proceedings for reasoning of verdicts judges and prosecutors
FINANCIAL INVESTIGATIONS & ASSET CONFISCATION number of confiscation proposals
interoperability between competent institutions & timely data gathering expert staff for financial investigations
WAY FORWARD TRACK RECORD IMPACT BUY-IN Create preconditions for Aim for changes that Address resistance to an effective track record make an immediate change, accounting for in combatting OCC. difference. operational practices and working cultures. STRENGTHEN TRANSPARENCY AND ACCESS TO INFORMATION IN OCC CASES by adopting necessary legal amendments for publishing the verdicts, increasing the staff and technical resources for anonymisation and publishing legal acts; enhancing co-operation with CSOs in order to increase transparency regarding cases of public interest, further developing of Public Relations skills of judges.
IMPROVE THE STANDARD OF INDICTMENTS AND JUDGEMENTS by strengthening capacities of judges and public prosecutors, facilitating internal consultative meetings and discussions, developing guidelines for drafting indictments, issuing compendium of well-drafted verdicts, regular assessing of training needs for judges and public prosecutors.
INCREASE USE OF FINANCIAL INVESTIGATIONS AND ASSET FORFEITURE by improving the interoperability and coordination between relevant institutions for timely and efficient temporary asset seizure and confiscation, allocating more resources for hiring expert staff for conducting financial investigations, drafting a verdicts in which clear link between confiscation measures and the criminal charges is established.
ENSURE EFFECTIVE CASE MANAGEMENT by adopting methodologies to differentiate and categorise high level OCC cases, developing standards and techniques for the trial management of complex cases based on good practices, increasing the efforts to efficiently process and finalise high-level OCC cases in the appeal phase, ensuring efficient allocation of resources for processing OCC cases, and improving the quality of courtroom recordings.
This publication was produced with the financial support of the For more on the Regional Trial Monitoring project go to European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of the www.osce.org/WesternBalkansTrialMonitoring or OSCE and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European follow us in SoMe #RegTrialMonitoring Union.