Skopje, 4 August 2024 (MIA) - Despite the existence of numerous founded suspicions of crime that need to be investigated by the prosecution, we can currently see zero action and investigations, which is why we need urgent reforms in the judicial bodies, Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski told “Fokus” in an interview Sunday.

Asked about reforming the Council of Public Prosecutors and Judicial Council, Mickoski said “so far no one has offered a better model” and noted that VMRO-DPMNE's Government proposes that “judges and prosecutors be the ones who choose who will be a member of the two institutions,” as well as “greater independence through an autonomous budget”.

“Eternal experts show up, criticize the model and immediately after we see the same names becoming members of the Judicial Council. They should propose a model. It’s nice to stand on the side, observe and say what shouldn’t be done. They should say what should be done,” Prime Minister Mickoski said.

The Prime Minister said that even though corrupt judges are a minority, they hold key posts and the majority is subservient to them.

“The majority mustn’t be subservient to the minority. Unfortunately, the minority currently holds key posts and that’s why we need the majority to defeat the minority, by choosing what they themselves think they need. We won’t meddle, we will stand aside and let them carry out that catharsis by themselves, to filter out everything that is bad and remove it from the system,” Mickoski said.

The PM said a committee in Parliament would oversee the work of the institutions.

“The committee would be composed of MPs from both the Government and the opposition. And they will have a chance to carry regular and extraordinary controls to see if abuses exist. If they exist, then we plan to have legal interventions, even criminal prosecution, not just dismissals,” Mickoski said. 

Photo: MIA Archive