OSCE Mission to Skopje supports conference on pre-trial detention practices

SKOPJE, 4 April 2008 - Raising awareness among judges, prosecutors and attorneys on the international standards for pre-trial detention was the aim of an OSCE Mission-supported conference which ended in Skopje today.

The conference follows an analysis conducted by the OSCE Mission of pre-trial detention orders issued by the country's basic courts, which identified several deficiencies in the practice of imposing this measure.

"The ongoing issue concerning detention is not in the existing legislation. It is the implementation of this legislation and the tendency of judges to make decisions based on tradition rather than laws," said Donald Bisson, Head of the Rule of Law Department at the OSCE Mission.

Dragan Tumanovski, President of the Macedonian Judges Association added: "The judiciary must find a way to address this issue and start acting in accordance with national and international standards. In the future, we must not tolerate decisions that do not have sufficient reasoning."

The project was initiated by the Macedonian Judges Association and is supported by the OSCE Mission to Skopje and the Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance and Training of the U.S. Department of Justice.