The North Macedonia Bar Association officially received the  first part of the software for appointment of ex-officio lawyers developed with the EU/CoE support.

During the handover, the President of the Bar Association Mr. Ljubomir Mihajlovski and the Head of Operations of the Council of Europe Programme Office in Skopje Ms. Lejla Dervisagic, underlined the continuous mutual co-operation for development of this software which is very important tool in the area of legal aid in criminal proceedings that will enable transparency and non-discrimination in the appointment system.

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 first part of the software has been developed during the last months 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” which aims 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”.

The second part of the software for appointment of ex-officio lawyers is planned to be developed under the upcoming Horizontal Facility III phase which will start on 1 January 2023.