25 laptops, worth over 14,000 EUR were donated today to the Ministry of Justice in North Macedonia, to support its regional offices and strengthen their role as free legal aid providers.
During the handover, the Nikola Tupanceski, Minister of Justice thanked the European Union and the Council of Europe for their support for the Ministry of Justice and its regional offices, emphasizing the importance of this donation in the process of providing free legal aid to citizens and equal access to justice for all.
“The Ministry of Justice and its regional offices have a key role in the process of providing free legal aid to citizens who, due to their financial position, cannot afford it. This is precisely why there is a need for effective provision of quality services for free legal aid to the citizens. In the past the regional offices have faced obstacles in their work due to the lack of proper technical equipment to perform their daily work and the donation of these 25 laptops will greatly contribute to eliminating that problem. In this regard, I would like to thank the representatives of the European Union and the Council of Europe for the confidence shown in our work and that their donation will contribute to greater effectiveness and efficiency of the work of the regional offices of the Ministry of Justice, and thus strengthen the access to justice for all," said Minister Tupanceski.
Lejla Dervisagic, Head of Operations of the Council of Europe Programme Office in Skopje, underlined the continuous co-operation with the Ministry of Justice in its attempts to improve the free legal aid system, as well as building a society in which access to justice is equal to all.
“The Council of Europe co-operates with the Ministry of Justice in promoting the system of free legal aid, which is very important for the citizens of the Republic of Northern Macedonia. The results so far have been encouraging and the equipment we are handing over today will contribute to further strengthening the capacities, above all, of the regional offices of the Ministry of Justice, removing the obstacles that existed in the past related to the lack of proper technical equipment. This will contribute to strengthening the efficiency and quality of the provision of free legal aid services.”, underlined Dervisagic.
Having an efficient free legal aid system for those who lack sufficient resources is an important element to ensure effective access to justice, in line with European standards.
The donated equipment comprised of 25 laptops with a value over 14 000 EUR was provided through the support of the joint action of the European Union and the Council of Europe on “Supporting enhanced access to higher quality Free Legal Aid services in North Macedonia”. The goal of the action is to strengthen the capacities of the key actors in North Macedonia in their efforts to strengthen efficiency, quality, accessibility and awareness about the free legal aid.
This initiative is part of the joint European Union/Council of Europe programme “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey 2019-2022” being implemented in close cooperation with the Ministry of Justice of Republic of North Macedonia.
