Skopje, 29 May 2024 (MIA) — The Judicial Council at its 488th session adopted amendments and addenda to its Rules of Procedure in line with the EU peer review mission's recommendations on how to improve its professionalism, independence and efficiency.

Judicial Council members with voting rights will have to fully elaborate on their reasons for voting for or against electing a judge or court president. Also, deadlines would be set for every stage of proceedings, aimed at preventing cases from being "forgotten in drawers" until their statute of limitations expires.

Judicial Council president Vesna Dameva said the Judicial Council had also developed an action plan according to the recommendations issued in the report of the EU peer review mission.

One of the recommendations, she said, was for each appointment decision to be given an explanation for, especially if the Judicial Council did not elect the first-ranked judges but gave preference to a lower-ranked candidate, Dameva said.

She said these decisions needed to be "individualized, based on objective standards, consistent and comparative."

To implement this recommendation, in addition to a written explanation for the decision, each Judicial Council member will be required to elaborate on their reasons for voting for or against a candidate at a session.

"We will not continue the previous practice of allowing members who vote against someone to not have to explain their position," she said. "This will be mandatory and everyone will have to say why they are voting for or against electing a candidate."

According to their new action plan, they need to implement these two recommendations by December 2024, but Dameva said the implementation would begin as soon as the amendments to the Rules of Procedure were adopted. They would be fully implemented, she noted, at one of the Judicial Council's next sessions set to be convened to elect a judge or court president.

Dameva also pointed out that, in line with the action plan, the updated Rules of Procedure would prescribe specific deadlines for all stages of proceedings.

"This way, cases will not be kept or forgotten in drawers," she said, adding that any delays beyond the given deadlines would have individual or collective consequences.

Additionally, she said, the Rules of Procedure would be amended to foresee including members of the Judges Association and civil society organizations in the discussion and adoption of the Judicial Council's annual report. mr/