Shtip, 2 September 2021 (MIA) – Minister of Justice Bojan Marichikj announced on Thursday a digitalization plan for equipping almost 200 courtrooms nationwide with equipment donated by the US and Norwegian embassies, OSCE and the EU. Digitalization is meant to enable courts to conduct online trials. Marichikj also congratulated the Kavadarci court on success in the digitalization process. “This feat is meant to provide enough equipment and prepare the staff to conduct online trials when needed, as well as to allow the public to follow trials without having to be there in person,” Marichikj said. He added that legal amendments are necessary to conduct the digitalization plan. “We’ve made amendments to the Law on Litigation which is already in Parliament and working on amending the Law on Criminal Procedure. The goal is to have quick and efficient trials without endless delays and possibilities for deviation or manipulation. This is especially important during a pandemic, which is an objective obstacle to effective procedures, but it’s also been used for delays. Our goal is to have the equipment installed next year in 200 courtrooms, and to equip the courtroom in the Idrizovo prison, which would significantly reduce expenses and make trials easier, at least in Skopje,” Marichikj stressed. He added that the digitalization plan includes the Shtip area, especially appeal courts and basic courts that have the biggest number of cases, because they need it most. Regarding the lack of judges, like in the Vinica court which has only one judge, the Minister of Justice said that there’s only one way to select trial court judges and that is from those who have graduated from the Academy for Judges and Public Prosecutors. “We have to wait for the new generation of judges and public prosecutors who are supposed to graduate by June or the end of the next school year and the next fall, so September/October 2022 is when they can be selected as judges or public prosecutors. We’re talking about 60 or so candidates. We have no way to select new judges until then, so we will have to coordinate with the Judicial Council and appeal areas to ensure courts can handle all the cases,” Marichikj said. He underlined that certain positions need to be filled so that these courts can work better, but said a year will pass before the Judicial Council and the Council of Prosecutors can make an adequate choice after academy students graduate. “Kriva Palanka has been without a prosecutor for 12 years and there is an insufficient number or no judges at all in other places. We’re aware of this issue. In fact, I think that the Judicial Council selected six new judges from the latest generation of academy graduates and sent them to Berovo, Krushevo, etc. So, the Judicial Council is taking care of filling these positions,” the Minister said.dk/mm