Skopje, 15 April 2025 (MIA) – The State Commission for Prevention of Corruption (SCPC) identified a series of flaws in the Law on Hospitality. The analysis was carried out on its own initiative, following the Kochani nightclub fire tragedy in which 61 people lost their lives.

Registering individuals in the hospitality registry without prior verification by the relevant authority to confirm they meet the minimum technical standards is just one of the shortcomings identified by the SCPC. The Anti-Corruption Commission also points to regulatory risks related to how hospitality conditions are inspected, how licenses are issued, the penalties involved, and a lack of clarity on what other activities besides hospitality are covered by the law.

“We identified a regulatory risk in Article 4a, paragraph 2. The provision allows individuals to register for hospitality activities without prior verification from the relevant authority to confirm they meet the minimum technical standards. All it takes is for the applicant to submit a form to the State Market Inspectorate, and there is no obligation for the authority to verify the information. This means the process is formally completed without actual confirmation that the conditions have been met, which creates a legal gap and leaves room for applications to be accepted on paper only. In practice, this allows people to operate without proper checks, something that could endanger the health and safety of guests. We recommend the law be amended to require written confirmation from the State Market Inspectorate or other relevant body to verify compliance before registration. There also needs to be a clear timeframe, such as 15 days for inspections, along with penalties for false applications, including possible fines or revocation of licenses,” said SCPC President Tatjana Dimitrovska, explaining the results of the Commission’s analysis of the law.

As for penalties, rather than applying the prescribed inspection measures, such as issuing a warning, imposing obligations, or enforcing a ban, authorities issue an invitation for education, which, according to Dimitrovska, is not in line with current legal procedures.

“This creates a legal contradiction and leads to uncertainty in how inspectors carry out their duties, allowing for inconsistent or arbitrary use of inspection powers. A regulatory risk was also found in the area of misdemeanour provisions. The current fines are not proportionate to the seriousness of the potential consequences, especially when the violations involve risks to life, health, or safety. The SCPC recommends reviewing the misdemeanour provisions to ensure fines reflect the seriousness of the offense, particularly those affecting health and safety. For serious violations, a triple fine should be applied,” Dimitrovska said.

The SCPC concludes that the Law on Hospitality contains numerous regulatory risks due to inadequately defined, incomplete, and inconsistent procedures, the absence of effective oversight mechanisms, and possibility of declarative fulfilment of requirements without actual verification by a relevant authority.

“There is also a noted legal inconsistency with other systemic laws, particularly the Law on Inspection Supervision, and the Law on Misdemeanours, which leads to legal uncertainty and inconsistent application in practice. These normative weaknesses create room for corruption, abuse of discretionary powers and unequal treatment of different entities in identical or similar situations,” Dimitrovska said.

The report of the conducted anti-corruption review, which in addition to the Law on Hospitality, also covers the Law on Protection and Rescue, the Law on Inspection Supervision, the Law on Local Self-Government, the Law on Protection from Explosive Substance and the Law on Trade in Explosive Substance, will be publicly released and submitted to the law’s proposer as well as to institutions responsible for implementing and regulating these laws.

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