MACEDONIA: GRUEVSKI INSISTS ON PROGRESS IN

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 SKOPJE 000514 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PHUM MK SUBJECT: MACEDONIA: GRUEVSKI INSISTS ON PROGRESS IN JUDICIAL REFORM REF: SKOPJE 00300 SKOPJE 00000514 001.2 OF 002 Sensitive but unclassified--please protect accordingly. ¶1. SUMMARY: (SBU) PM Nikola Gruevski continued to closely monitor and insist on judicial reform in an October 15 meeting with OSCE and the Embassy. While progress has been made on some reforms, most have not been fully implemented, despite promises made by Justice Minister Mihajlo Manevski in June. The PM demanded updates on each area from Manevski, and expressed visible dissatisfaction with issues that had not been fully implemented. Gruevski was not pleased with the status of the reforms, especially in areas of publishing of court decisions, anti-corruption measures for judges, and pending judicial legislation. Gruevski demanded that Manevski account for his shortcomings, set new deadlines for completion of the reforms, and planned a future status meeting on these issues for early December. END SUMMARY Transparency Remains Problematic -------------- ¶2. (SBU) PM Gruevski convened a meeting on October 15 with Minister of Justice Manevski, OSCE, and the U.S. Embassy to review the status of key judicial reforms that were agreed upon at a June 2009 meeting with the international community (REFTEL). Gruevski focused on measures to increase transparency of the judiciary, including the publishing of court decisions (both online and in hard copy),the opening of sessions of the judicial and prosecutorial councils to the public, and the publishing of financial statements of judges to root out corruption. While there has been some progress in these areas, the overall assessment was that significant work still needs to be done. ¶3. (SBU) On the publishing of and access to court decisions, Manevski reported that the Supreme Court had published a rule book making it mandatory for all courts to publish decisions online in their entirety, only redacting personal data of defendants, witnesses, injured parties, and private information in the cases of rape and juveniles. He claimed that over 1800 decisions had been published thus far across Macedonia and, although there have been some technical problems with certain courts, all decisions should be published by the end of the year. ¶4. (SBU) We pointed out that this information did not match our information, as we had seen no judgments published from the major courts (Skopje I, II, Supreme Court, and Appellate Court) and any judgments that were published were so heavily redacted as to be useless. Moreover, NGOs and private attorneys have complained to us that they have been denied hard copy access to verdicts as recently as last week. The PM requested we provide a list of these denials to the MOJ and recommended to the Minister that he discipline these judges/courts at the next Judicial Council meeting. Gruevski then opened his laptop and asked Manevski to show him some electronically published judgments. The PM noted with evident displeasure that the level of redaction was far heavier than what Manevski himself had described (para 3). The PM ordered the MOJ to check all court web sites and report to the government in the next month. Gruevski also suggested that specific conditions for redaction and the mandatory publication of judgments be added as an amendment to the Law on Courts. Gruevski called for these amendments to be completed and presented to the government by the end of November. ¶5. (SBU) Some sessions of the Judicial Council were open to the public on September 1, but the disciplinary sessions remain closed. Manevski noted that the members of the Judicial and Prosecutorial Councils recently returned from a USAID-funded study tour and gained valuable information from our judicial system that they could use to improve transparency. (COMMENT: There has been strong pushback by the Councils against making confidential disciplinary sessions public. We are working with them to find regional models to create a solution that would increase transparency without jeopardizing the reputations of the parties involved.) ¶6. (SBU) Gruevski also took Manevski to task on the progress of the publishing of judges, financial statements. Manevski initially argued that this was the domain of the Anti-Corruption Commission and not the MOJ, and that he did not know what had or had not been published. Gruevski pushed back, arguing that it was certainly the job of the MOJ and demanded that Manevski personally provide him with an update SKOPJE 00000514 002.2 OF 002 on this issue by October 27. Improvements Still Needed on Judge Training and Selection -------------- -------------- ¶7. (SBU) Gruevski inquired about progress in creating and implementing a better standard for selection and training of judges. He emphasized the need for all judges to be trained in European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) standards, to speak English, to hold master,s degrees, and to undergo psychological and ethics tests before being hired. (COMMENT: Gruevski expressed these views in the June meeting (REFTEL), though this goes beyond what we recommended.) Manevski complained about the difficulty of the English language requirement, but noted that the Judicial Council members acquired actionable information on their recent study trip to the United States that they hoped to implement soon. (NOTE: In a September one-on-one meeting with POLOFF Manevski spoke of the addition of questions to the Macedonian Bar exam on the ECHR standards.) Small Amounts of Positive Praise -------------- ¶8. (SBU) The PM praised the MOJ for the work it had done on allowing easier access for attorneys to their clients in detention. We agreed with the PM that access has improved considerably since June in detention centers in Skopje and Prilep and there have been no new complaints on this issue. Manevski also reported that the USAID-funded computer system, which will automate court processes and case management, has been implemented in all of Macedonia,s courts. This system will significantly improve the efficiency and capacity of the courts. Manevski noted that training was ongoing on this system and the courts were still on track to have the system fully operational by January 1. Additionally, Manevski noted that the MOJ had received funding for three more organized crime prosecutors, which will help balance the case load and improve the efficiency of the court. Unfortunately, no one had applied for the vacancies, so the MOJ has increased the salary for the positions in the hope of attracting suitable candidates. COMMENT -------------- ¶9. (SBU) As in past meetings, Gruevski purposefully berated Manevski in front of the international community, perhaps in part to attempt to exert his authority and pass blame on to Manevski for lack of progress. The pressure on Manevski, in both this meeting and in the past, was clear. We will continue in coordination with the international community, to press for progress on the major problems that still exist in Macedonia's judicial system. REEKER