Documents: With tag Fundamental rights

The pandemic caused by COVID-19 caused a health, economic and social crisis in the Republic of North Macedonia. In response to the pandemic, the government took a number of restrictive measures to prevent people from being exposed to the virus, thus slowing down its spreading, and introduced a set of measures to mitigate the adverse effects of the imposed restrictions. The adopted measures contributed significantly towards restricting citizens’ rights, and included a curfew, maintaining social distance, restricting movement and gathering, closing borders and stopping air traffic, online education, and the like. While such restrictions of the freedoms and rights may have, in part, been necessary to control the pandemic, many of them were too broad or neglected to consider effects on the most vulnerable categories of citizens, not only of the virus, but also of the socio-economic consequences. Hence, the purpose of this public policy paper is to analyze the response of the Gov

The number of detained persons in 2021 (388) is continuously increasing compared to the previous years (2020 – 317, 2019 – 225). There is a slight decrease in the number of detained children in 2021 (55) compared to the same period in 2020 (76). The average period that children spent in detention in RTC Vinojug is 29 days and the maximum is 50 days. In most cases, legal guardian was appointed to the unaccompanied detained children. However sometimes there was a delay in the timely appointment of a guardian. In 2021 the persons were detained at three locations in RC Gazi Baba, RTC Vinojug and RTC Tabanovce. Migrants at RTC Vinojug who were detained as witnesses in the proceedings against the smugglers continued to be held in quarantine before being brought in front of a public prosecutor.

This report is a comprehensive overview of the various practices, policies and procedures in relation to the asylum system in Republic of North Macedonia in 2020. The Report emphasizes the key challenges faced by the asylum seekers and the refugees during the asylum procedure and during realization of other rights. In order to produce this document, we used: a) data gathered during representation of asylum seekers, refugee and migrants, persons under subsidiary protection and recognized refugees in North Macedonia; b) data gathered through monitoring of the condition and treatment of the authorized bodies towards the refugees and migrants in the Transit Centers where MYLA has accessible offices and c) data gathered during the attendance in the Reception Center for Asylum Seekers in Skopje. Furthermore, in order to prepare this Report, we gathered public information, as well as numerous available reports and literature.

his report was prepared within the framework of the project “Eliminaton of Torture and Inhuman Treatment in Prisons and Deteniton Facilities”, funded by the European Union. For the purposes of the project, a Memorandum of Cooperaton was signed between the Macedonian Young Lawyers Associaton, the Helsinki Commitee for Human Rights and the Administraton for Execution of Sanctions. The report is based on field visits by the representative of the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights – Ina Dzugumanova, representatives of the Macedonian Young Lawyers Association – Arben Gudachi and Irena Zdravkova, as well as external experts hired by the monitoring team, psychiatrist – Marija Kostadinovska and psychotherapist – Elisaveta Sekulovska. The experts were hired to assess the potential impact of material condidions in prisons and detention facilities on persons staying in these facilities. The assessment was conducted by providing psychiatric and psychotherapeutic counseling to convicts and talking

This Report following the implementation of the Strategy is structured in line with the plan for monitoring the implementation and for assessment of the results of the 2017-2022 Strategy for Reform of the Judicial Sector, using citizen-oriented indicators, i.e., indicators facilitating the assessment of the interaction of citizens with justice system institutions, as well as the degree of attainment of strategic goals, guidelines, measures, and activities envisaged under the Strategy. The Project Partnership Justicia: Regaining the Citizens’ Trust introduced citizen-oriented indicators for monitoring and assessing the implementation of the Strategy with a view to promoting the rule of law principle and prompting a greater human rights approach and focus within justice system institutions. Such indicators help measure the results of the 2017-2022 Strategy for Reform of the Judicial Sector from the human rights perspective and from the viewpoint of the Strategy’s effects on citizens, aga

Constitutional judiciary has been existing in Macedonia for almost six decades. The First Constitutional Court, as a separate constitutional order institution controlling constitutionality of laws and constitutionality and legality of other general legal acts, was introduced with the 1963 Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Macedonia. Its organizational setting, powers and working procedures for exercising its jurisdiction were regulated in detail with a special law. In accordance with its powers, the Constitutional Court exercised additional a posteriori or conditional repressive control over the constitutionality of the laws by making decisions that had the legal effect of determining unconstitutionality of a law. Where the Assembly failed to harmonize the law within 6 months, the Constitutional Court would conclude, with a new decision, that such law was abrogated.