Skopje, 23 September 2023 (MIA) - The Judicial Council, as one of the most important institutions that should ensure independence, objectiveness, efficiency and quality of the judiciary, has unfortunately lost its credibility, the expert on legal issues Branko Hrvatin, whose team completed the EU’s peer review mission on the Judicial Council's work, said at the meeting with the Deputy Prime Minister for good governance policies, Slavica Grkovska.

He underscored that urgent measures must be taken to overcome this situation.

The Croatian Supreme Judge led the EU's peer review mission, which took place last week, after which he is expected to propose short- and medium-term measures for the reform of the Judicial Council.

Grkovska thanked Hrvatin for all the commitment that he and his team invested in detecting weaknesses in the work of the Judicial Council, but also for the recommendations that will be submitted, which for our country will be the basis for further reforms, the government said in a press release.

Grkovska presented Hrvatin with a document that listed specific weaknesses that the Office for Good Governance Policies detected in the Judicial Council’s work and which, in one part, refer to the improvement of the merit system and the criteria for the selection of judges, the improvement of transparency during the selection, as well as a series of other solutions in the direction of strengthening the independence of this institution, reads the press release.

Legal expert Hrvatin noted that within the framework of the peer review mission, he and his team had a series of meetings through which they acquaint in details with conditions in this institution. The process of preparing the report follows, after which recommendations are expected to be submitted, which will contain specific proposals for reforms in the short and medium term.

They agreed that a strong and unequivocal will from all political factors is necessary for concrete and efficient reforms in the judicial system.