Constitutional Court President Darko Kostadinovski defended North Macedonia’s process for selecting a candidate for the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) after the Council of Europe’s advisory panel rejected the proposed candidacy of Ana Dangova-Hug.
Kostadinovski said it is not unusual for the expert panel to raise concerns about candidates or return proposed lists, adding that the commission had unanimously nominated lawyer Jelena Ristic as a replacement. He rejected criticism from former Constitutional Court judge Natasha Gaber-Damjanovska, who said the repeated returns showed the commission had not followed the Council of Europe’s guidelines properly.
The commission responded that it would not comment on candidates’ statements but criticized what it described as inappropriate remarks about its work. North Macedonia has yet to submit a list that passes the Council of Europe’s assessment, while current judge Jovan Ilievski remains in office beyond his nine-year mandate.