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