The State Commission on Compensation for Victims of Violent Crimes was established in North Macedonia aiming to support victims of violent crimes including victims of trafficking in human beings by awarding a state compensation of up to 5,000 euro for the injustice suffered. This constitutes an important step forward in ensuring better protection of human rights for the victims of violent crimes and the fight against human trafficking in North Macedonia.
Since 2017, the EU and Council of Europe action against trafficking of human beings in North Macedonia has supported the authorities and civil society organisations in the process of making state compensation accessible to victims of human trafficking by providing expert support to the Law on monetary compensation for victims of violent crimes, advocating for the adoption of the law, supporting drafting of its by-laws and providing information materials for the claimants of state compensation.
The Council of Europe Convention on Action Against Trafficking in Human Beings defines that members need to establish a clear framework for access to compensation, including state compensation for victims of human trafficking. This important development comes after the monitoring body - Group of experts on action against trafficking in human beings in its 3rd evaluation report on North Macedonia highlighted the need to adopt the necessary legislative and administrative measures with a view to ensuring the effective implementation of the Law on monetary compensation to victims of violent crimes as one of the priorities for the public authorities in the fight against human trafficking.
On its first session, the Commission examined its Rules of Procedure, which were prepared with the support of the joint European Union and Council of Europe anti-trafficking action in North Macedonia.
The Commission is composed of a Supreme Court judge, a public prosecutor, a psychiatrist, a representative of the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy and a representative of the NGO “Open Gate” who will serve for a four-year tenure.
The action “Strengthening anti-trafficking action in North Macedonia” is part of the joint programme of the European Union and the Council of Europe "Horizontal Facility III for the Western Balkans and Turkey 2022-2026”, a co-operation initiative co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe, which aims at assisting beneficiaries in South-East Europe to comply with the Council of Europe standards and European Union acquis in the framework of the enlargement process.
