Skopje, 12 June 2022 (MIA) – President Stevo Pendarovski addressed on Sunday the opening of the European summit on digitalization in judiciary, which is organized by the Ministry of Justice in Ohrid, under the auspices of the President of North Macedonia and with the support of the OSCE mission in Skopje. “Digital transformation of our societies has long been not only a technological vision of individuals or the subject of academic and expert discussions about the future, but our reality,” Pendarovski pointed out. He added that digitalization has not only facilitated, accelerated and made communication widely available, but it has fundamentally changed the way people work, think and build value systems. Pendarovski pointed out that for years digitalization has been treated as a technological toy relevant only to those directly involved in information technology. According to him, a direct proof of this is the ignoring of digitalization by most legal systems, first by failing to recognize its advantages, and then by failing to recognize the challenges and threats of fast and uncontrolled digitalization. “The key change was brought about by the great health crisis of 2020, which we are still experiencing as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic. All relevant data from the past two years show that the pandemic was not only a great challenge for our healthcare systems, but also a challenge for state administration and judiciary as a whole,” Pendarovski said. In such a situation, he continued, the question arose as to how digital technology can be used for the judiciary to continue to perform its function in a time of prolonged crisis with an uncertain end. He described this summit as the beginning of an extensive and long process of digital transformation of the country’s entire judicial system. “The implementation of this complex process is, first of all, our task and responsibility. I hope that the political will to digitalize judiciary will result in real and measurable progress in thgis area in which for years, for various reasons, we haven’t made significant progress. In this sense, you can expect my unreserved support,” the President stressed. In his address, Justice Minister Tupanchevski said the state should do everything to put these technologies into operation and also in terms of the access to justice. He also mentioned activities underway in terms of implementing the Plan for digitalization of the judiciary. Tupanchevski added that digital judiciary will enable faster justice and reduce corruption. “We expect full digitalization in over 186 courtrooms in 34 courts. This will significantly improve judicial integrity, accountability, as well as protecting the system. Remote trials are already becoming a reality. But they are only one aspect of digitalization that includes a range of other possibilities,” said Tupancheski. Head of the OSCE Mission in Skopje Clemens Koja and Georg Stawa of the Federal Ministry of Justice of Austria also addressed Sunday’s opening of the summit. The three-day summit includes 13 panels and brings together many officials from institutions and ministries at home and abroad.