Testing Times: North Macedonia’s Would-be Judges and Prosecutors Find Secret Tests Suspicious

BIRN spoke to such candidates. They base their testimonies on the fact that these are the only tests to which no objection is allowed, nor are they allowed to inspect what they have written when taking the test.

Another situation raises even more concerns: a candidate may pass the integrity test one year, yet the next year, his integrity "does not satisfy".

One candidate told BIRN he suspected that instead of serving as a real check of the person's psychological profile and integrity, the tests serve mainly to eliminate other candidates. He suspects that the tests are a method of favoritism.

In reviewing their findings, one must also note that future judges and prosecutors are taking psychological tests that have not been approved by the Chamber of Psychologists as standardized tests. The tests' approval seems to be in the middle of an invisible, silent struggle between the Academy and the Chamber of Psychologists. And the biggest loser is the confidence of the candidates in the selection process.

Not allowed to review his own test result

A session of the Management Board of the Academy of Judges and Public Prosecutors in North Macedonia in August 2022. Photo by BIRN

One candidate for the initial training at the Academy, who wished to speak anonymously, said that in 2019 he applied for the call for attendees.

Previously, he worked as an expert associate in the prosecution. He passed all the stages of screening but did not make it to the final list. "I wasn't mad at that. There is a limited number of places," he told BIRN, recalling what happened almost five years ago.

With the already acquired experience of taking the exam, he decided to apply again. He scored the seventh...