STRENGTHEN THE RULE OF LAW BY CHANGING THE INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK FOR COMBATING CORRUPTION
STRENGTHEN THE RULE OF LAW BY CHANGING THE INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK FOR COMBATING CORRUPTION

Summary/Abstract: Numerous surveys and rankings of international organizations on corruptionissues show that North Macedonia has serious problems in combating corruption andtherefore a substantial approach is needed to improve the situation. That is the point of this paper - taking essential steps in the fight againstcorruption. The focus is on the change in the institutional approach in the fight againstcorruption, ie replacement of the current preventive model (where the leadinginstitution is the State Commission for Prevention of Corruption - SCPC) andreplacement with the model of law enforcement agencies, ie in the future leadinginstitution in North Macedonia to be the Basic Public Prosecutor's Office forProsecution of Organized Crime and Corruption. The paper emphasizes that by changing the main body for fight againstcorruption, the SCPC will be transformed into a Commission for Prevention of Conflictof Interest. In that way, the current body will continue to work but with competenciesof educational, preventive and administrative character, because even today that bodyhas no operational competencies. In the paper the author points out that to achieve a significant result in the fightagainst corruption, substantial changes are needed in the composition and operationof the Judicial Council, the Council of Public Prosecutors and the Steering Committeeof the Academy for Judges and Public Prosecutors. These are the key institutions in thejudiciary and it is necessary to increase transparency and accountability in their work,and especially in their composition. Throughout the paper, special emphasis is placed on gender representation onan equal basis in order to jointly improve the situation in the fight against corruption,from which everyone suffers. In the paper, the author creates a strategic approach to reducing the high levelof corruption in North Macedonia, by offering several recommendations that in themedium and long term should improve the situation in the suppression of corruption.

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