HF II North Macedonia - Enhancing penitentiary system External Oversight Mechanism

As part of the co-operation framework co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe, known as the Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey, phase II (Horizontal Facility II), the Council of Europe implemented the Action “Enhancing the capacities of the penitentiary system and the External Oversight Mechanism in North Macedonia”, in close cooperation and partnership with the Ministry of Justice (Directorate for Execution of Sanctions), Ministry of Health, Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Ombudsman’s Office. The Action also involved a wide group of other national stakeholders, including prominent civil society organisations active in the area of protection and promotion of human rights.

The main aim of the Action was to contribute to a safer and more humane society that respects and protects the rights of detained and sentenced persons in line with the Council of Europe standards in the area of penitentiary and law enforcement.

The key Conventions for this Action were the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR), as well as the recommendations of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) and the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR).

The duration of the project was set at 36 months and it was completed by 31 December 2022, with an overall budget of 1,050,000 Euros.

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PROJECT NEWS

Back Prosecutors and judges discussed the challenges faced by the External Oversight Mechanism in North Macedonia’s court procedures

@ Council of Europe

Prosecutors and judges from North Macedonia met on 3 March 2022 to discuss the challenges faced by the External Oversight Mechanism (EOM) in court procedure. Three prosecutors, a judge of the Skopje Criminal Court, one judge of the Supreme Court and former ECtHR judge, a prominent professor and the Head of the EOM Unit at the Ombudsman’s Office and the CoE consultants shared their know-how, as well as the ideas on overcoming key challenges.

In the past three years, sufficient practice has been built on the cases brought by the Unit for prosecuting crimes perpetrated by persons with police authority and members of the Prison Police, in front of the Skopje Criminal Court. Statistics is encouraging as it shows greater awareness on the matter and the verdicts so far demonstrate visible progress in tackling the phenomena of police ill-treatment and impunity in North Macedonia. There are some dualities due to the provisions in different laws, which are expected to be addressed in the ongoing discussions for a major reform in the relevant legislation. It is very encouraging that the case law of the ECtHR is being used both by the prosecutors and judges. All participants agreed that such roundtables are very helpful in finding joint solutions and the Council of Europe stands ready to further support the Mechanism.

The Mechanism was established in 2018 with the support of the Council of Europe (CoE) and the European Union, the External Oversight Mechanism (EOM), aimed at supporting and protecting victims of human rights violations perpetrated by persons with police authority or prison police, by providing an effective investigation into all such allegations. The positive effect of the EOM are well noted in the Ombudsman’s Annual reports and the EU progress reports.

This activity was organised under the Action “Enhancing the capacities of the penitentiary system and the external oversight mechanism in North Macedonia”, co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe within the “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey 2019-2022" and implemented by the Council of Europe.

North Macedonia 08 March 2022