The Criminal Code is being finalized

The Minister of Justice, Igor Filkov, announced in an interview with the  MIA that the Criminal Code is being finalized, after which it will be submitted to a government procedure.

,,Currently, additional harmonization with four new European directives is being carried out: the Directive on the Protection of the Environment through Criminal Law (EcoCrime), the Directive on Domestic Violence and Violence against Women, the Directive on Asset Recovery and Confiscation, as well as the Draft Directive on Combating Corruption. This process is also taking place in a large number of the  EU member states. After the final harmonization, the Criminal Code will be submitted to a government procedure. A new criminal offense is also being established regarding the misuse of a recording, photograph, audio recording with sexually explicit content, where videos created with artificial intelligence, known as deep fakes, are also incriminated. At the same time, a revision of the special criminal offenses related to the "Safe City" project is being carried out, such as the criminal offense of Reckless Driving", says Minister Filkov.

The goal of the Ministry of Justice is clear: to create a new, modern and codified Criminal Code, in which all relevant international standards and instruments will be incorporated, in order to strengthen the legal certainty of citizens, and for practitioners - judges, prosecutors and lawyers - to have a clear and applicable law, without ambiguity and contradictions.

This document will be a fundamental transformation of criminal law: with clear definitions, a fair balance of sanctions, eliminating legal uncertainty and creating a framework in which selective justice becomes impossible.

This is a step that will mark a new stage in the reform of the judiciary and will establish Macedonia as a country that knows how to follow European standards, but also to build its own legal stability.

Minister Filkov also referred to the announcements about the possibility of the Constitutional Court adopting a merits decision on the disputed changes from 2023 if the remarks are not corrected with the announced legal solution.

"The decisions of the Constitutional Court are final and enforceable. However, one must be careful with statements and positions so as not to give the public the impression that they are being used for daily politics", emphasizes the Minister of Justice, Igor Filkov.

Follow the entire interview for the Macedonian News Agency at the following link: