Gaber-Damjanovska: Other prosecutor’s offices should have the same resources as the SPO


The regular Public Prosecutor’s Office doesn’t have the same resources as the Special Public Prosecutor’s Office, the country should invest more in the rest of the prosecutorial structures, says Natasa Gaber-Damjanovska, director of the Academy for Judges and Public Prosecutors in Sunday’s interview with Radio Free Europe.

“I do not know how motivating it is for people are to want to get a job in the Prosecutor’s Office, I do not know if the Prosecutor’s Office has given enough opportunities and competitions for people to work there. Actually, I think it’s a problem with a lack of professional associates. So, if I say that prosecutors should waste their time to go through the educational process of the Academy, professional associates can be hired through a job ad, they do not depend on the Academy, therefore this could be done in the near future,” said the former judge in the Constitutional Court.

Gaber-Damjanovska says that if there is political will, the country can help the prosecutorial structures in their functioning.

“It is certain that the resources, such as the Special Public Prosecutor’s Office had from the very beginning, were not similar to the other Prosecutor’s Office. Perhaps the capacities should be strengthened here, the country should invest a bit more in the rest of the prosecutorial structures and help in the functioning and performance of their work, and this is a policy issue, which I think can be more dynamically done, what we only need is will,” she adds.

According to her, Macedonia has laws that should be applied, the question is practically for the application itself, whether this is accomplished or not.

“So there is no different application or privileged category of citizens for which the provisions can be applied from time to time, not fully valid or not applied at all against the category of other categories of citizens, let’s say ordinary citizens, for which all legal provisions are applied consistently even stricter than what could realistically be applied in certain situations. Another dimension of the rule of law is to enable the control and respect of all legal principles and those who emanate certain power in society. Usually these are high-ranking economic circles or rich businessmen or politicians of the highest rank, for which the practice of their power should always be reduced to certain legal frameworks, and so to be applied,” says Gaber-Damjanovska.