Macedonia to Scrap Disputed Judicial Council

Macedonia will soon scrap the controversial Council for Disciplinary Liability and Evaluation of Judges - which was introduced in 2015 under the former ruling VMRO DPMNE party - the new Justice Minister, Bilen Saljiji, said.

This will be done by October in order "to ease the pressure on judges", the minister said, adding that this formed part of the new government's plan to implement EU-sought reforms.

Along with the procedure in procedure to axe chief Public Prosecutor Marko Zvrlevski, the move is seen as a first step towards removing political influence over the judiciary.

A judge who wished to stay anonymous - but who claimed he had been a victim of a political setup by the Council - told Deutsche Welle he hoped it would be scrapped as soon as possible.

However, the head of the Council for Disciplinary Liability, retired lawyer Saso Pocevski, has defended the body that he leads, calling it "an example for professionalism and independence" in the judiciary.

"Probably this is one of the main reasons behind the demands for the swift scrapping of this body," Pocevski said.

Composed of nine retired judges, lawyers, prosecutors and university professors, the law establishing it was disputed from the start, after it was passed in a shortened procedure and without due public debate in 2015.

Its main task was to initiate disciplinary proceedings against judges, a duty that fell previously under the jurisdiction of the Judicial Council. After the new council is abolished, that duty will return to the Judicial Council.

Many legal experts, including the then opposition and now governing Social Democrats, claimed the new body was installed to increase political pressure on judges. They claimed that the...