Skopje, 31 October 2024 (MIA) – The drafting of the new Criminal Code has been completed, translated into English and submitted to the European Commission for opinion, said the Ministry of Justice.    

The Justice Ministry told MIA that corresponding tables as an obligation from the bilateral screening on Chapter 23 have also been prepared.

After receiving the EC's opinion, if there are no remarks, the Criminal Code is submitted in government procedure, and then forwarded to the Parliament.

The Parliament adopts the new Criminal Code by simple majority.

The European Commission in its 2024 Country Report for North Macedonia, on Chapter 23: Judiciary and fundamental rights, notes that the amendments to the Criminal Code of September 2023 weakened the legal framework, negatively affecting the prosecution of corruption, especially in high-level cases. The Commission recommends that in the coming year, North Macedonia should adopt a new Criminal Code in line with the EU acquis and international standards. 

According to the EC, the country should improve its track record in high-level corruption cases - with timely, professional, and transparent proactive investigations, prosecutions, final convictions, and recovery, including confiscation of criminal assets, value-based confiscation, extended confiscation and third-party confiscation.

The new Criminal Code is to reverse amendments of September 2023 made with the use of the fast-track ‘EU flag’ procedure, by which maximum penalties are reduced concerning the crime of abuse of office and criminal association. 

Photo: MIA archive