On October 18, 2022, the Center for Legal Research and Analysis organized a workshop within the project “Development and introduction of a tool for monitoring performance in the Public Prosecutor’s System in North Macedonia”. This project is financially supported by the Government of the United Kingdom and is the result of the continuous support that the United Kingdom provides for the improvement of justice in the Republic of North Macedonia.
This event was attended by Public Prosecutors, members of the Council of Public Prosecutors and representatives from the Ministry of Justice, and the purpose of their presence was to familiarize them with the way the new tool works and what benefits they would have by using it.
The workshop was opened by the president of CPIA, Lidija S. Zafirovska, who in her opening address mentioned that systemic reforms are currently needed in the Public Prosecutor’s Office in order to regain the trust of the citizens and improve its transparency, efficiency and effectiveness.
Domestic and foreign legal experts were present at the event. In their presentations, domestic experts first referred to the current situation in the public prosecutor’s office and for this purpose several times they bring up the functional analysis for public prosecutions in Republic of North Macedonia prepared by CPIA. The functional analysis was helpful for identifying the problem that the public prosecution system faces on a daily basis and to recognize where reforms are needed. They pointed the benefits of using the tool in practice and presented positive examples of the application of such tools in Great Britain and Denmark. At the very end, Adis Hodzic, in his capacity as an international expert on statistical analysis, gave a presentation on the practical part of the tool that is the statistical model for qualitative analysis of the work.
The purpose of the event was to show future users what the tool actually is, how to use it and how it will make their work easier. The tool works in a way that, through a standardized approach to data collection and processing, develops an objective monitoring of the work of the public prosecutor’s offices. Its use will allow measuring the performance of the prosecution system, identify its needs and weaknesses, and encourage the creation of more effective reform measures based on evidence, in accordance with internationally set standards.
After the presentations, the attendees were satisfied with what was shown. A discussion developed between them and the speakers about the tool itself, and also some of the attendees talked about other problems from their everyday work.
