Skopje: The Law on Languages is expected to be reviewed in March next year

2024-12-23 19:54:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Skopje: The Law on Languages ??is expected to be reviewed in March next year

The President of the Constitutional Court in North Macedonia, Darko Kostadinovski, announced on Monday that the preparatory session of the Law on the use of languages ??is expected to be held in the period from March 19 to 21 next year.

According to him, more than 20 names have been proposed as experts in constitutional law, international law and former judges from the European Court of Human Rights, who will be invited to give their opinions. The finalization and publication of these proposals, along with contentious legal issues, is expected to take place on Tuesday, December 24.

"Anyone who thinks that the rule of law and the rule of law will be hindered by manipulations, pressures and political influences is wrong! No one is above the Constitution. Everyone is obliged to respect the Constitution", declared Kostadinovski during a press conference.

He added that the Constitutional Court has also requested "friendly advice - (amicus curiae)" from the Venice Commission, which will be approved in the session of March 14 and 15, and will be published a few days later (March 17-18), before the session .

On December 11, the Constitutional Court decided to postpone the hearing on the evaluation of the legality of the Law on the use of languages, because two Albanian judges, Osman Kadriu and Naser Ajdari, were absent, thus boycotting the process.

Kostadinovski stated that he expects both judges to be present at the next hearing and present their legal arguments.

"The minimum quorum for the work of the Constitutional Court is five judges, decisions are taken by five votes, unless a qualified majority is required. The preparatory session will be held if the conditions of the minimum number of judges present for work are met," he said.

The Law on the Use of Languages, which consists of 25 articles, was adopted in 2018 and entered into force in 2019.

The head of the Constitutional Court, Kostadinovski, also announced that in the preparatory session of March, 13 initiatives opposing the Law on the use of languages ??will also be present, including political parties.

With the 13 initiatives, not only the name of the Law is opposed, but also all its 25 articles, including the expansion of the use of the Albanian language in court proceedings, on banknotes, police uniforms and in the issuance of personal documents in two languages.

In 2019, the Venice Commission assessed the Law on Languages, saying that some of its provisions exceeded international standards for regional and minority languages.

The Commission, however, assessed that in some areas the law may go too far by imposing unfeasible legal obligations on public institutions, especially in relation to the use of the Albanian language in judicial proceedings.

The law on the use of languages ??has been sitting on the shelves of the Constitutional Court for five years.

The balancer, now repealed, and the Law of Languages ??were included in the agenda a few months after the VMRO DPMNE took power in North Macedonia.

The "balancer" was a mechanism that regulated the "fair and adequate" representation of communities in state institutions in this country./REL