The Draft Law on Civil Procedure is on the agenda of the Commission for Political System and Inter-Community Relations today.
After several years of blocking, the Draft Law on Civil Procedure is again in parliamentary procedure. Its purpose is to regulate the issues that created problems in the application of the Law (expertise, delivery, acceleration of the procedure in disputes of small value, etc.), and were ascertained by all interested parties.
The Draft Law foresees a reduction of the amount of the fine for the participants in the procedure, in accordance with the general determination of the Government to reduce the fines, the submission in electronic form is harmonized, the electronic delivery is simplified in accordance with the relevant legal provisions for electronic operations in the country .
What is new is the prescription of a procedure for the protection of collective interests and rights, which enables associations, foundations, institutions or other organizations that are established in accordance with the law and that, within the framework of their registered or legally defined activity, deal with the protection of collective interests and rights established by law, to be able, when such authorization is expressly given to them by law and under conditions provided by that law, to file a lawsuit (lawsuit for the protection of collective interests and rights) against a natural or a legal person who, by performing certain activity or by act or omission, seriously injures or seriously threatens such collective interests and rights.
The proposed law also complies with the Law on Free Legal Aid, which specifies that the costs of the procedure of the party that is a beneficiary of the secondary legal aid, who succeeded in the dispute, are paid to the Republic of North Macedonia budget account.
It is envisaged that public hearings will be held electronically, at the discretion of the court, in the event that there is a risk of delay or when there are legal or real obstacles. The court may decide to hold the hearing online, using means that provide two-way electronic communication and allow audio and visual display in real time.