Justice Minister Deskoska meets Venice Commission delegation

Minister of Justice Renata Deskoska met with a four-member delegation from the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission on Monday to discuss reform processes carried out by the Ministry of Justice to integrate Macedonia into the EU.

The Venice Commission delegation is paying a working visit to the country to evaluate the changes made within the judiciary system.

Minister Deskoska, joined at the meeting by Deputy Minister Oliver Ristovski and representatives from the Ministry of Justice, called on the opposition to support the updated laws on the court system, saying a two-thirds vote was needed to adopt these changes.

Nevertheless, she confirmed her commitment to the goal of establishing an independent judiciary.

Members of the Venice Commission delegation include legal experts Richard Barrett, a barrister and government lawyer from Ireland; Ciril Ribičič, professor of Constitutional Law and former justice of the Constitutional Court of Slovenia; Philip Dimitrov, a judge from Bulgaria, and Russian-born Grigoriy Dikov, a lawyer at the Registry of the European Court of Human Rights and professor of European human rights law in Strasbourg, France.

During the two-day visit, the delegation will also meet with representatives from the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court, the Association of Judges of Macedonian, the Judicial Council, the Public Prosecution Office, Parliament, as well as civil society.