Under the Joint Project “Reinforcing Judicial Expertise on Freedom of Expression and the Media in South-East Europe (JUFREX)” co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe, an inter-professional seminar was organised on 14th December 2017, in Skopje. The seminar, titled “Media reporting on court proceedings – actual situation and challenges” was organised in co-operation with the Macedonian Institute for Media – Project partner, with the purpose of establishing a structured dialogue on the subject matter between relevant judicial institutions and the media.

Apart from key speakers, namely a journalist, a judge and a public prosecutor, the activity gathered around 30 people, most of whom were representatives of media outlets while the others were representatives of the media regulatory body and other civil society organisations.

The presentations of the key speakers gave insight into the national context of the topic, whereas the international aspect, i.e. the Council of Europe’s standards on the matter, was presented by an international consultant, Mr Frederic Gras. Following introductory exposés by the international and national key speakers, a constructive debate on overcoming shortcomings in, and enhancing of the communication between the judiciary and the media took place.

“The views expressed therein can in no way be taken to reflect the official opinion of the European Union”