Judicial Council's Oversight of Court Transparency (MK0181)

Which public problem is addressed by the commitment? Art, 92, par.1, item 5 of the Law on the Judicial Council is novelty in the Macedonian legal framework, whereby the Judicial Council assesses whether court presidents care for their public relations. The Judicial Council should perform this by insight into court websites, i.e. checking press releases, decisions, analyses and reports published. Moreover, the Judicial Council should assess whether court presidents ensure proper processing of information requests. By the end of 2019, the Judicial Council adopted new Rules of Procedures for the Judicial Council of the Republic of North Macedonia, but has still not started activities in respect to monitoring court websites. For the Judicial Court to monitor these websites, i.e. to assess work of court presidents, specific process rules needs to be established (designated employee or organizational unit within the Judicial Council that will be tasked with performing insight into court websites, how will that employee/organizational unit report findings to the Judicial Council, how will 151 Judicial Council Members assess whether presidents of specific courts have acted pursuant to the law, etc.)

Main objective of the commitment • To strengthen the Judicial Council’s active role in monitoring compliance with the principle of transparency on the part of court presidents in respect to public relations; • To draft new internal organization and job systematization acts pursuant to the Rules of Procedure for the Judicial Council of RNM;

How will the commitment contribute to addressing the public problem? The commitment anticipates activities aimed at increasing transparency of courts by introducing the system for monitoring performance of court presidents through court websites.

How is this commitment relevant to OGP values? The commitment provides access to greater scope of information and improves availability of information for the public, whereby the commitment is relevant for transparency.

Additional information Link to SDG 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions SDG target 16.6: Develop effective, accountable and transparent institutions at all levels This commitment is important for improving public accountability of the Judicial Council of RNM by improving the rules and mechanisms that will ensure accountability of Judicial Council Members and employees in performing their active role related to ensuring transparency of the courts.

No. Milestone (enlist activities that will contribute to commitment implementation) Indicators (enlist measurable indicators/ benchmarks for monitoring and verification of achievements) Activity holder (government institution, CSOs or other) Start date End date 2.1.1 Develop methodology for assessment of court presidents in respect to public relations and transparency Methodology and other regulations (rulebook, procedures) for assessment of court presidents by the Judicial Council are adopted Judicial Council of RNM September 2021 March 2022 152 2.1.2 Quantitative definition of ranking points for the criterion on public relations and transparency Methodology and other regulations (rulebook, procedures) for assessment of court websites by the Judicial Council are adopted Judicial Council of RNM September 2021 March 2022 2.1.3 Development of standard operational procedures and definition of process maps for monitoring court websites, i.e. for assessment of court presidents in respect to public relations Methodology and other regulations (rulebook, procedures) for assessment of court websites by the Judicial Council are adopted Judicial Council of RNM September 2021 June 2022

Action Plan Review

Commitment 2.1: Enhance the Judicial Council’s oversight of court transparency

● Verifiable: Yes

● Does it have an open government lens? Yes

● Potential for results: Modest