The Center for Legal Research and Analysis promoted the Matrix for monitoring the performance of the judiciary in the Republic of Macedonia.
The matrix is part of the program “Improving the quality of justice in Macedonia by building capacity for judges and monitoring judicial reform”, supported by the British Embassy in Skopje, and implemented by the Center for Legal Research and Analysis.
At the event, a welcome speech was delivered by the Minister of Justice of the Republic of Macedonia, Bilen Saliji, the British Ambassador Charles Garrett and Lidija Stojkova-Zafirovska, president of the Center for Legal Research and Analysis.
Minister Salji said/mentioned that the Matrix is of great importance in the process of monitoring the performance of the judiciary, adding that this tool will enable systematic assessment of the overall performance in the judiciary and will help in the evaluation of the reforms in this sector, which is important for the European integration of the Republic Macedonia. At the end he welcomed all the parties involved in the preparation of this Matrix and encouraged them for further cooperation.
The UK Ambassador in Macedonia, Charles Garrett, pointed out that the Matrix is a great benefit for judicial institutions, but also for citizens in Macedonia. He explained that by analyzing how the legal system in Macedonia works and with the results of the operation will be possible to identify ways to improve it, in order to enable unified application of the laws.
The president of the Center for Legal Research and Analysis, Lidija Stojkova Zafirovska briefly explained the whole process of creating the Matrix, emphasizing that the Matrix is a model for evaluation of the justice system that will introduce Macedonia in the European family, where strict criteria for monitoring the quality of justice and effectiveness of judicial systems are established. This will prepare Macedonia to keep up with all trends and EU standards, which will now be benchmarks for our judiciary.
In the second part of the promotion, the professors Gordana Lazetic and Katerina Shapkova Kocevska, who were part of the team that worked on the Matrix, presented the legal part of this tool and the methodology of conducting the research and measurement, explaining that the idea is not to measure and evaluate the work of the each judge individually, but to obtain a picture and an assessment of the overall state of the judiciary in the Republic of Macedonia.
The Matrix for monitoring the performance of the judiciary in Macedonia was developed by the team of the Center for Legal Research and Analysis – Lidija Stojkova Zafirovska, Zarko Aleksov, Aleksandar Godzo, Zarko Hadzi-Zafirov, Nikola Jovanovski and Gorica Nadjinska, in cooperation with representatives from the Ministry of Justice – Slavica Zerajic and Nikola Prokopenko, representatives of the Judicial Council of the Republic of Macedonia – judge Mirjanka Gocevska Stefkovska and Anita Andonoska, professors Gordana Lazetic, Jasna Bacovska, Katerina Shapkova Kocevska , Jelena Ristic and Besa Arifi, judge Mirjana Lazarova Trajkovska, researcher and methodologist Marko Trosanovski, and international experts Adis Hodzic, Reda Molyen and Toni Vukicevic.