Introduction

• Author: Biljana Kotevska
• Pages: 13-15

13

INTRODUCTION

The national legal system

The Republic of North Macedonia (hereinafter North Macedonia) is a unitary, semi-

parliamentarian, civil law country. It adopts the monism principle regarding the relationship

between international and municipal law, the former being considered part of the latter,

and superior to domestic laws and bylaws,33 and where, if it is deemed fit and appropriate,

courts can use the final judgments of th e European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), the

International Crimin al Court (ICC) or any other international cour t with jurisdiction over

the country.34 Although in theory directly applicable, references to interna tional law in the

jurisprudence of the domestic courts are still very rare and, in practice, the courts d o not

seem to treat it as higher in the national legal hierarchy than national laws.

The Constitution prescribes the principle of the separation of powers. The three branches

of power are: legislative, executive and judicial.35

Legislative power is vested in the Assembly of the Republic (the Parliament). The members

are elected through what the Constitution and the laws set out as general, direct and free

elections and by secret ballot.36 The Parliament has the p ower to adopt and amend the

Constitution and ratify international treaties, as well as to adopt and amend laws. There

are sp ecial procedures in place that aim to ensure that no law tou ching upon issues of

relevance for the non-maj ority ethnic communities in the country will be adopted without

them. This voting mechanism is called the Badinter principle and it requires that a law gain

two-thirds of the votes of the members with an affiliation to one of the non-majority ethnic

communities. The Parliament has a Standing Inquiry Committee on Human Rights, tasked

to follow and alert the Parliament on developments related to human rights. The Parliament

also elects and app oints the members of the two national human rights institutions – the

Commission for Prevention and Protection against Discrimination (CPPD) ( 

     з ) (former C ommission f or Protection

against Discrimination (CPAD) (    з )) and the

Ombudsperson ( ).

The executive branch is represented by the Pr esident (whose role is largely ceremonial)

and the Government, which has 16 ministries, five Deputy Prime Ministers and seven

ministers without portfolio. The President is directly elected, whereas the Government is

appointed by the P arliament. Within the Government, sev eral ministries share human

rights competences. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs hosts the inter-ministerial body on

human rights, establish ed with the aim of improving coordination and communication

among the Government departments on key human righ ts issues. Aside from this body,

and of relevance to this report, an important division of the executive Government i s the

Ministry of Labour and Social Policy (MLSP), which is tasked with coordination and

development of non-discrimination activities and hosts the Nationa l Coordinating Body for

Non-discrimination Issues. The Representative for Equal Opportunities for Women and Men

33 Article мму of the Constitution states: ‘International agreements ratified in accordance with the Constitution

are part of the internal legal order and cannot be changed by law’. Source: Constitution of the Republic of

North Macedonia, 1991 and subsequent amendments. Full title: Republic of North Macedonia, Constitution

of the Republic of North Macedonia (    ). Official website of the

Parliament of the Republic of North Macedonia, available at: www.sobranie.mk/the-constitution-of-the-

republic-of-macedonia.nspx.

34 Law on Courts, 2006. Article 18(5). Full title: Republic of North Macedonia, Law on Courts ( 

), Official Gazette of the Republic of Macedonia No. 58/2006, 62/2006, 35/2008, 150/2010;

83/2018, 198/2018, 96/2019; Constitutional Court Decisions: U.no.256/2007, U.no.74/2008,

U.no.124/2008, U.no.12/2011.

35 Please see the 2018 version of this report, Section 11, for information on the wire-tapping affair, which cast

doubt on the respect for the separation of powers and the rule of law in the country in general.

36 The wire-tapping affair also raises issues in relation to elections.