Skopje, 26 November 2025 (MIA) - The commission tasked with selecting North Macedonia’s candidate for judge at the European Court for Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg has submitted a shortlist of three candidates which will be sent for review by a panel of experts at the Council of Europe. The nominated candidates are lawyers Jordan Apostolski and Natasha Boshkovska, and professor Sasho Georgievski.

According to the President of the Constitutional Court Darko Kostadinovski, the decision was made on the basis of the criteria for high moral reputation, qualifications for judicial office, and recognized legal standing.

“Few candidates met the second condition, qualifications for judicial office. Professor Georgievski is recognized as a reputable expert, while the two lawyers have significant human rights experience,” Kostadinovski said. 
Kostadinovski said the commission voted in secret for all candidates, with two of the nominated receiving five votes, while one nominee received four votes.

The shortlist will be forwarded to a panel of experts at the Council of Europe by the end of the week.

“Once we receive their response, then we will notify the government that our nomination has been or hasn’t been approved by the panel of experts, and based on the response, the procedure will continue,” Kostadinovski said.

Once the government is notified, it must then propose the candidates to the Committee of the Council of Europe.

“Then the Committee of the Council of Europe will conduct interviews, and only after that will the proposal proceed to a plenary session of the Council of Europe. The next one is in January, I doubt we will make it to that one, the other is in April, by April we should manage,” Kostadinovski said.

Alongside those nominated, the other candidates for the post were Olja Ristova, Toni Menkinoski, Natasha Gaber, Aleksandar Dashtevski, Ali Aliu, Ilir Iseni, Jelena Ristikj, and Ana Dangova Hug.

The President of the Constitutional Court also said the commission acted in accordance with the guidelines of the State Commission for the Prevention of Corruption (SCPC), which had previously raised concerns about possible conflicts of interest in the procedure. He stressed that following the SCPC’s decision, some members for whom recusal was requested abstained from voting on certain candidates.

In July 2025, the government scrapped the previous shortlist and formed a new commission, which instead of the previous nine members, now counts five: the President of the Constitutional Court, Darko Kostadinovski, together with the Presidents of the Supreme Court Afrim Fidani, the Basic Criminal Court Daniela Dimovska, the Basic Civil Court Besnik Avdija, and the Director of the Academy for Judges and Public Prosecutors Irina Trajkoska Strezoski.

MIA file photo