Publications

Women have significantly weaker political positions than men in terms of political engagement and influence in both wealthy countries and developing regions. Women from non-majority communities often experience dual discrimination based on both their gender and ethnicity. This disadvantaged position is similarly observed among women from non-majority communities in North Macedonia. This study aims to offer a comprehensive examination of the levels and circumstances surrounding the political participation of women from non-majority communities in North Macedonia, emphasizing the multifaceted inequalities faced by community women in their attempts to join political and public life. The study employs a blend of quantitative and qualitative research methods, encompassing primary data collection through a field survey involving 1002 respondents and six interviews and secondary data analysis. The report is available in English, Macedonian, Albanian, Bosnian, Romani, Serbian, Turkish and Vlach languages.

This Research on Youth and Security provides an overview on young people's perceptions, views, and attitudes towards security and safety in North Macedonia, their participation in formal and informal peace processes, the peace and security agenda, and issues countering and preventing violent

This Handbook is a practical tool for regulatory and policy impact assessment at central and local governance and is intended to facilitate the process of incorporating the gender perspective in decision-making. The Handbook provides basic information and practical guidelines on how to assess the impact of gender equality on policies and adopted decisions and regulations. The methodology and the practical tools presented in this Handbook can be applied to other vulnerable groups in society, such as: people with disability, minority groups, etc.

"Barometer for Equal Opportunities" is an OSCE and EU-sponsored survey, which was conducted in collaboration with Commission on Prevention and Protection against Discrimination and the Macedonian Centre for International Co-operation. This comprehensive survey unveils the key findings that shed light on perceptions of and experiences with discrimination and inequality in our society. It was conducted across diverse demographics and compared with past surveys from 2009, 2013, and 2018, and it gives us a powerful view into evolving trends in these areas.

This Report contains an assessment of the current legal status, means of management and financing of the Media Information Agency (MIA), comparative analysis of legal status regulation of news agencies and recommendations for updating MIA’s legal status.

The execution of sanctions is the final piece that closes the entire process of adjudication in criminal procedure. The lack of proper sanctions enforcement through a clear, understandable and fair procedure, the incomplete legal framework, as well as the inconsistent practice of the courts at the four appellate regions in North Macedonia, contributes to the negative public perception, especially in “high profile” cases. The Mission, in cooperation with the national Judges’ Association and the Skopje Basic Criminal Court, developed an Analysis of the practical problems of the procedure for execution of sanctions, addressing the legislative gaps and providing concrete legislative solutions. The Analysis includes diverse court practices from the appellate regions and recommends practical approaches to overcome certain challenges. Not available in English.

During the implementation of the current LCP, during trial monitoring activities and over discussion with national legal practitioners, it became obvious that one of the weaknesses among legal practitioners is the adequate use of expert opinions, expert witnesses and technical advisors as a tool for representing facts as evidence in Court, and their effective, efficient and financially justified conduct in accordance with the rules and principles of the national criminal procedure. The Law on Expertise, as lex specialis needs to be understood in the context of the LCP and the purpose of the expert witnesses during a criminal case trial. Therefore, the OSCE Mission to Skopje supported the drafting of this Guidebook for legal practitioners including positive and negative examples from the national court practice, ECtHR jurisprudence and additional elaborations of the novelties in the Law on Expertise.

The publication aims at clarifying the procedural legal concept of shifting the burden of proof, its meaning and scope, as well as all open issues during practical implementation of the proceedings before the Commission for Prevention and Protection against Discrimination and the national court, to ensure effective application of the Law on Prevention and Protection against Discrimination. It also focuses on helping legal practitioners in acquiring knowledge and skills in the area of equality law and the principle on non-discrimination, thus examples from the Court of Justice of the European Union and the European Court of Human Rights, as well as comparative practices from European countries, are widely used.

The publication comprises the internal and external assessments of the activities and the structure of the Academy for Judges and Public Prosecutors (AJPP). The internal assessment is focused on evaluating the decision-making processes, the management bodies, and the structure of the employees. This also includes the assessment of the training needs of management bodies and the employees of the AJPP, to raise their knowledge about diversity and gender equality. The analysis of the external activities assesses whether diversity and gender equality are included in the overall training conducted at the AJPP, including the bylaws for initial and continuous education and training, as well as the annual curriculums.

The execution of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights represents a significant and complex process that involves numerous actors involved in the execution itself or in the supervision of the execution, which may complicate and slow down the implementation of any measures and activities that should lead to the effective execution of the judgments. The training curricula was developed in co-operation with the national Academy for Judges and Public Prosecutors (AJPP). It was specifically designed for the current and future judges and public prosecutors attending training at the AJPP. Not available in English.