OSCE Mission to Skopje supports regional conference of Supreme Court Presidents

SKOPJE, 29 October 2015 – Presidents of the Supreme Courts from the region gathered today in Skopje at a high-level conference, co-hosted by the country’s Supreme Court and the OSCE Mission to Skopje, to exchange experiences and draft joint recommendations in regards to applying the practice of the European Courts of Human Rights (ECHR) within domestic jurisdictions.
The event, also served as an opportunity to mark the 70th anniversary of the country’s Supreme Court.
“Building an independent and efficient judiciary is crucial to a democracy governed by the principles of rule of law. Effective protection of human rights is of utmost importance for the establishment of a just society,” said the Head of OSCE Mission to Skopje Nina Suomalainen.
Lidija Nedelkova, co-host of the event and President of the Supreme Court, said that it is important to have a unique, harmonized and unified application of the law on human rights protection. “There must be a certain hierarchy in the interpretation of the law which is provided through the authority of the higher instance, in other words, the Supreme Court. The legal wisdom is woven into the decisions of the Supreme Court and there should be no dilemma in regards to their validity and obligation.”
The Mission to Skopje continues to work on a different activities aiming to contribute to strengthening the independence, transparency and effectiveness of the domestic judicial system.