EU Proposes to Government Peer Review Mission over Judicial Council’s Work

The EU has proposed a peer review mission to North Macedonia over the work of the Judicial Council, following the series of scandals over the past several months. The EU Delegation’s Head, Ambassador David Geer, said in Wednesday’s interview with the Top Tema (Top Topic) show on Telma TV that that had already been proposed to the Government. He added that he hoped it would be carried out shortly because the Council’s work needed to be fixed. “We followed closely, with great concern. You know, the Judicial Council has a very special role to play. It’s supposed to protect and promote the independence, professionalism, and integrity of the judiciary. That’s its job. And it’s clearly not doing that. And what we’ve seen recently is a real, you know, the recent developments have been very concerning indeed. So much so that we’ve now proposed to the Government that we will deploy here a high-level peer review mission of the Judicial Council to look at ways in which we can address this issue of professionalism, integrity, and independence so that it can really do its job in the future,” he stated.