Suchergebnisse

The procedural institution "sentence bargaining" for the first time was introduced into Macedonian legal system in 2010 when the new Law on Criminal Procedure (LCP), was adopted by the Macedonian Assembly. As stated in the LCP's explanation, the efforts towards the acceleration of the criminal justice system and reaching a final and enforceable judgements, shall be done by accepting models of simplified procedures, which means - by tending the judgment to be reached in the earlier phase of the criminal procedure, by endeavouring the parties to give their agreement on the sentence and by avoiding the usage of the legal remedies. In essence, besides the Reaching a judgment on the basis of a plea agreement between the Public Prosecutor and suspect (Chapter 29), the new LCP governs three additional models of accelerated procedures, i.e. Summary procedure (Chapter 28), Mediation procedure (Chapter 30) and Procedure for issuing a penal warrant (Chapter 31). Having in mind the above, the main goal of the Paper shall be to comprehensively elaborate the Macedonian legal framework dedicated to the sentence bargaining, especially the new LCP, Criminal Code and Law on Determining the Type and Meting Out the Degree of the Sentence. Also, the Paper shall give a special attention to the Judgement on the basis of a draft plea agreement reached between Public Prosecutor and one of the accused in the case publicly known as "Putsch".

In the Republic of Macedonia a special attention is given to the terrorism and to the fight against it. Since 1996 in the scope of the Criminal Code the criminal act Terrorist threats to the constitutional order and security was prescribed. Further, in 2004 another act was stipulated - Terrorist organization, and in 2008 two more acts - Terrorism and Financing terrorism. Also, since 1996 the criminal act International terrorism is set. Specific for these criminal acts is that during the previous period their content was targeted to a several changes by specifying their essence and by prescribing more severe sanctions, and in 2009 they have become a subject of extended confiscation. Despite the Criminal Code, there is other relevant legislation that also addresses to the terrorism and the fight against it. Therefore, the main objective of the Paper shall be to present the commitment of the Macedonian authorities in the fight against the terrorism, not only on normative level but also by undertaking appropriate measures and actions. Finally, the Paper shall give an overview to the case publicly known as "Smilkovsko Ezero" or "Monster".

In 2004 the Macedonian Criminal Code was supplemented with two criminal acts which object of protection were the migrants. Namely, its Chapter 34 "Criminal acts against humanity and international law" was broaden with the act Smuggling of migrants (Article 418-b) and the act Organizing a group and instigating to commit the acts of human trafficking, trafficking of minor person and smuggling of migrants (Article 418-c). In the years that followed, the provisions of the bought criminal acts became a subject of insignificant changes - the Article 418-b was changed in 2009 and the Article 419-c was changed in 2008 and 2011. Therefore, the Paper shall pay attention to the Macedonian legislation, especially to the provisions of the Criminal Code. By analysing the legal framework of these criminal acts, from the aspect of the criminal policy, their trend of movement shall be determined. On the other hand, with the help of scientific analysis and description of the statistical data disposable to the Macedonian State Statistical Office, the detecting and proving activities of the Macedonian law enforcement organs shall be noted through the submitted criminal reports, initiated accusations and delivered judgments for sanctioning the perpetrators of the criminal acts defined in the Articles 418-b and 418-c. Furthermore, a special note shall be given to the type of the criminal sentences imposed to the convicted adult persons. Such study shall enable to determine whether the sentence imprisonment prevails over the sentence probation-imprisonment, and also shall enable to determine the length of the imposed sentences. In addition, having in mind the aspiration of the Republic of Macedonia to become an EU member, the European Commission's progress reports shall be analysed from the aspect of the smuggling of migrants, i.e. the efforts that Republic of Macedonia takes in order to comply with the Copenhagen criteria and the conditionality of the Stabilisation and Association Process. Finally, the Paper shall address several domestic documents that focus on the migrants, among which are the National Strategy for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings and Illegal Migration and its Action Plan. As noted in the Strategy, it presents a reflection of the current state of affairs in this area, but it also represents a vision for ongoing improvements of coordination activities, advancing the legislative framework and increased implementation, as well as further preventative action in the fight against trafficking in human beings and illegal migration.

The Principles relating to the status of national institutions (Paris Principles), define international standards under which the national institutions can be accredited by the International Coordinating Committee for National Human Rights Institutions. Despite the fact that six models of national institutions exist today (Human rights commissions, Human rights ombudsman institutions, Hybrid institutions, Consultative and advisory bodies, Institutes and centres and multiple institutions), all of them should meet the main criteria set out by the Paris Principles, i.e. a broad mandate, based on universal human rights norms and standards; autonomy from Government; independence guaranteed by statute or Constitution; pluralism; adequate resources; and adequate powers of investigation. Although the national institution can be accredited by the International Coordinating Committee with status "A" (voting member), status "B" (observer member) and status "C" (non-member), it should be pointed out that the given accreditation status can be changed. Therefore, by the accreditation and reaccreditation processes, the national institutions are enabled to achieve and / or maintain the standards established by the Paris Principles, i.e. to protect and promote human rights at national, regional and international level.

The 2014 Report prepared by the European Commission concerning the Republic of Macedonia progress towards EU states "There is increasing awareness in society of the need to combat and prevent domestic violence. However, much remains to be done to ensure a long-term impact on gender equality. Discriminatory customs, traditions and stereotypes persist, and socially regressive trends in society are fuelled by some parts of the media, as well as by some national policies and initiatives." This statement is followed with the 2015 Report's observation "A new Law on Combating Domestic Violence was adopted to protect survivors, but it fails to recognise all forms of violence and only provides for civil proceedings against perpetrators. Further public awareness raising measures are necessary, particularly in rural areas". Having in mind the above, the Paper shall pay attention to the Macedonian legislation, especially to the Criminal Code (CC) and the Law on Combating Domestic Violence (LCDC). Concerning CC, 2004 is an important year from the aspect of its amendments. Namely, for the first time in the Macedonian criminal legislation the term of "domestic (family) violence" was prescribed. The CC's specific caracteristic regarding the domestic violence is that it is not stipulated as a unique, i.e. independent criminal act, but as more severe form of several criminal acts. This means that, if the act is committed in the context of a domestic violence, then the prescibed sentence is graver. 2009 is also a significant year since the CC was supplemented with the definition of the term "family". Further, the CC's definition of what is meant under "domestic violence" is not only overtaken by the LCDC, but also is more precisely stipulated. Namely, this law prescribes that the term "domestic (family) violence" shall mean abusement, insultment, threatening of the safety, physical abuse, sexual or other psychological, physical or economic violence that causes a feeling of insecurity, threat or fear, including threats of such acts, towards the spouse, parents or children or other persons living in marital or other community or household, as well as towards a current or former spouse, common-law partner or persons who have a child or are in close personal relationships, regardless whether the perpetrator shares or has shared the same residence with the victim or not. The Paper shall not only analyze the provisions of the above acts, but also the provisions of the new Law on Criminal Procedure (2010), since this law contains a separate chapter dedicated to the victims and their rights. Finally, the Paper shall address to the National strategy for preventing and combating the domestic violence (Strategy), prepared by the Macedonian Ministry of Labor and Social Policy. According to the Strategy's vision, several points should be met until the end of 2015, i.e. in the country there shall be: Understanding of the domestic violence as a severe violation of human rights and raising the public awareness of intolerance of the domestic violence; Increasing victims' safety; Increasing activities for effective investigations, criminal prosecutions and convictions of the perpetrators; Increasing the quality of services for victims and their standardization; Recognizing the domestic violence as gender-based violence; Increasing the efficiency of the system through structured planning, continuous monitoring and evaluation of the situation.

The Criminal Code of the Republic Macedonia within its Chapter XV "Criminal acts against the rights and freedoms of human and citizen" encompasses four criminal acts which object of protection is the intellectual property, i.e. Violation of author's right and related rights (Article 157), Violation of the rights of distributor of technically and specially protected satellite signal (Article 157-a), Piracy of audio-visual works (Article 157-b) and Piracy of phonograms (Article 157-c). Therefore, by analysing the legal framework of these criminal acts, from the aspect of the criminal policy, their trend of movement shall be determined. On the other hand, with the help of scientific analysis and description of the statistical data disposable to the State Statistical Office, the detecting and proving activities of the Macedonian law enforcement organs shall be noted through the submitted criminal reports, initiated accusations and delivered judgments for sanctioning of the perpetrators of the criminal acts defined in Articles 157, 157-a, 157-b and 157-c. Also, a special attention shall be given to the type of the criminal sentences delivered to the convicted adult persons. And finally, having in mind the aspiration of the Republic of Macedonia to become an EU member, the European Commission's progress reports shall be analysed from the aspect of the intellectual property, i.e. the efforts that Republic of Macedonia takes in order to comply with the Copenhagen criteria and the conditionality of the Stabilisation and Association Process.

In the 2013 Progress Report on Republic of Macedonia, in which the European Commission presents its assessment of what the country has achieved over the last year, it was stressed that the corruption in the Republic of Macedonia remains prevalent in many areas and continues to be a serious problem, indicating that the implementation of existing legislation has yet to make a concrete impact and the effectiveness of existing measures has to be improved. This comment was followed with a note that the country needs to demonstrate tangible results in the reduction and deterrence of corruption in practice. One year later, European Commission indicated that claims of selective enforcement and political influence in this area persist, and a more proactive stance is needed to eliminate these serious concerns. Also, the public trust in anti-corruption bodies remains low. Having in mind the above remarks, as well as the determination of the Republic of Macedonia to become an EU member, the Faculty of Security – Skopje established a Research team which goal was to organize a field Survey concerning the opinion (assessment) of the Macedonian citizens about the corruption. The aim of the survey was to give a scientific description of the citizens' opinion about the characteristics and consequences of the corruption, and also about the corrupt activities in the country. Despite the fact that the Survey was systematized in several chapters, the paper shall give a special attention to Chapter V "Preparedness and determination to fight against corruption" and Chapter VI "Development of the system to fight against corruption". Although the Survey was conducted in 2013, 2014 and 2015, the paper shall present and analyze the collected data in 2013 and 2014, since the data collected in 2015 are still being processed.

The globalisation of crime means there is an increasingly vital need for effective sharing of knowledge by police organisations across international borders. However, identifying the complexities and challenges of this aspect of international collaboration has been relatively neglected in previous research. The research reported in this paper therefore set out to identify the major barriers and facilitators of international knowledge sharing. Research teams in ten European countries produced ten case studies of knowledge sharing across borders, either involving direct cooperation between police forces in different countries or through international agencies such as CEPOL or INTERPOL. The integrative findings showed that the major influences on knowledge sharing could be theoretically categorised in terms of organisational factors (e.g., technological and staff capabilities), inter-organisational factors (e.g., quality of relationships, shared visions and systems), inter-country factors (e.g., bilateral conventions, legislation) and knowledge characteristics (e.g., clarity, legal sensitivity). Practical implications include standardising technology systems across countries, improving inter-organisational trust through exchanges and physical co-working, developing police members' knowledge and skills with regards to collaborative working and creating joint agreements and visions. Research implications highlighted the need to test the findings in non-European contexts and to comparatively focus on specific types of collaboration.