[CLSTR]
< Back to situations

Monitor this situation.

[SITUATION] · [ACTIVE] · [POLITICS]

7 clusters · 23 sources · 37 days · First seen · Last updated

North Macedonia judicial and prosecutorial reforms

Overview

In mid-September 2026, officials in North Macedonia focused on judicial independence and transparency. During an international conference in Ohrid, Darko Kostadinovski, President of the Constitutional Court, reported a record number of initiatives submitted to the Court in the first half of the year. To increase public trust, the Court has implemented measures such as live-streaming sessions and having judges explain decisions to the public. Experts at the conference, including Stefan Pirner from the German Foundation for International Legal Cooperation, emphasized that North Macedonia needs to adopt a comprehensive constitutional complaint mechanism to allow citizens to directly protect their human rights, aligning the nation with neighboring European countries.

By late September, the North Macedonia Assembly moved to address the institutional independence of the Court through legislative changes. Following a June 2026 ruling that struck down parts of the Law on Salaries and Other Remunerations, the Assembly’s Commission for Issues of Elections and Appointments unanimously adopted amendments to increase salary coefficients. Under the new proposal, the coefficient for the President will rise from 2.81 to 3.08, and the coefficient for judges will increase from 2.60 to 2.85, effective with October 2026 payments.

On October 20, 2026, the Council of Public Prosecutors, the Public Prosecutor's Office, and the Association of Public Prosecutors called on the Constitutional Court to urgently review the constitutionality of recent salary laws. These groups argue that amendments resulting in a third reduction of salary coefficients create a disparity between judicial and prosecutorial functions and threaten the independence of the Public Prosecutor's Office. The Court has previously indicated that while the legislature can regulate salaries, there is doubt as to whether these specific reductions infringe upon constitutionally guaranteed independence.

Entities

Constitutional Court of North Macedonia · Public Prosecutor's Office of North Macedonia · Gjorgjija Sajkoski · Constitutional Court of Serbia · Ohrid Forum for Dialogue

Claims

What the coverage asserts, and how many sources carry each claim.

Timeline

  1. [POLITICS] 3 sources
    North Macedonia judges warn of judicial system crisis

    The Association of Judges 360 Degrees warns that North Macedonia's judiciary faces a functional crisis due to shortages of judges, staff, and funding despite ongoing reform efforts.

  2. [POLITICS] 7 sources
    North Macedonian prosecutors urge Constitutional Court to review salary cuts

    North Macedonian prosecutors are urging the Constitutional Court to urgently review laws that have reduced their salary coefficients for the third time, citing threats to judicial independence.

  3. [POLITICS] 3 sources
    Constitutional Court of North Macedonia to review eight legal initiatives

    The Constitutional Court of North Macedonia will review eight legal initiatives, including challenges to mandatory mediation in civil disputes and provisions in the Criminal and Child Protection laws.

  4. [INTERNATIONAL] 2 sources
    Constitutional Court delegation attends international conference in Montenegro

    A North Macedonian Constitutional Court delegation attended an international conference in Montenegro to discuss European integration, the rule of law, and the use of AI in the judiciary.

  5. [POLITICS] 9 sources
    North Macedonia judicial institutions launch new regional forum and HR strategy

    North Macedonia's Constitutional Court launched the Ohrid Forum to boost judicial trust, while the Public Prosecutor's Office began drafting a new 2026-2028 human resources strategy to address staffing gaps.

  6. [POLITICS] 4 sources
    North Macedonia Assembly approves higher pay coefficients for Constitutional Court

    The North Macedonian Assembly has approved higher salary coefficients for the Constitutional Court's President and judges, following a court ruling on judicial independence, effective October 2026.

  7. [POLITICS] 2 sources
    Constitutional Court of North Macedonia reports record initiatives amid transparency push

    At a conference in Ohrid, North Macedonia's Constitutional Court reported record public initiatives and discussed increasing judicial trust through transparency and a potential constitutional complaint system.

Sources

360stepeni.mk · a1on.mk · alfa.mk · biznisvesti.mk · denesmagazin.mk · jorm.gov.mk · lider.mk · makfax.com.mk · makpress.mk · nacionalno.mk · nezavisen.mk · novamakedonija.com.mk · ohridsky.com · opserver.mk · panoptikum.mk · racin.mk · republika.mk · tocka.com.mk · tvm.mk · utrinskivesnik.mk · viki.mk · zoom.mk · zurnal.mk

This summary has been updated 5 times: see revision history