OSCE Spillover Monitor Mission to Skopje supports independence of judiciary with regional conference

SKOPJE, 23 November 2010 - An OSCE-organized regional conference that started today in Skopje supports the independence of the judiciary by bringing together representatives of the institutions instrumental to the operation of the judiciary as well as judicial associations from the region, including Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia to exchange experiences and ideas.

The two-day Regional Conference, organized by the OSCE Spillover Monitor Mission to Skopje in co-operation with the Association of Judges, will establish a forum on judicial independence on the regional level. The forum will provide a platform for the exchange of ideas and experiences, and a discussion on how to improve and strengthen the independence of the judiciary. Conference participants are also expected to create a set of recommendations that their national judiciaries may consider implementing.

"Every country is responsible for establishing a legal framework that ensures and strengthens judicial independence. This conference will help stakeholders from the region to carry out this responsibility," said Ambassador Jose Luis Herrero, Head of the OSCE Spillover Monitor Mission to Skopje.

The President of the Association of Judges, Nikolco Nikolovski, underlined the importance of exchange of practices as a tool to gaining a wider perspective in promoting and enhancing judicial independence.

Topics to be addressed at the Conference include international guarantees of the independence of the judiciary, the role that judges' associations may be able to play, procedures and criteria for the appointment and dismissal of judges and the judiciary in context of EU accession.