Skopje, 9 August 2024 (MIA) - The Worth It coalition announced plans Friday to initiate a constitutional amendment that would make it possible for laws to have a retroactive effect in cases of abuse committed by elected and appointed officials for which the statute of limitations has expired. According to the party, the amendment would bring the country “a big step” closer to integration within the European Union.

“This amendment would supplement article 52 of the Constitution of the Republic of North Macedonia. It will be the fifth paragraph, following paragraph four that states ‘laws and other regulations may not have a retroactive effect, except in cases when this is more favorable for the citizens’,” the party’s spokesperson Fari Hiseni clarified at a press conference Friday.

According to Hiseni, the proposed amendment will also serve as a basis for amendments to the Criminal Code with a new article that would ensure that the statute of limitations cannot expire on potential crimes committed by elected and appointed officials categorized as abuses of official position.

Hiseni stressed that the amendment will provide a constitutional basis for the revision of all judicial procedures against former and current officials that have been interrupted due to the expiry of the statute of limitations.

“With this amendment, we will in fact fulfill the citizens’ demands for rule of law, legal security and equality in front of the law and judicial procedures for all elected and appointed officials who abuse their influence and exert pressure to prolong the procedures against them until the statute of limitations expires,” Hiseni said. 

Photo: MIA