Courts

Kumanovo
Basic Court in Kumanovo, located in the city of Kumanovo, for the jurisdiction of the courts in:

• Kumanovo

• Kratovo

• Kriva Palanka

Bitola
Basic Court in Bitola, located in the city of Bitola, for the jurisdiction of the courts in:

• Bitola

• Resen

Ohrid
Basic Court in Ohrid, located in the city of Ohrid, for the jurisdiction of the courts in:

• Ohrid

Prilep
Basic Court in Prilep, located in the city of Prilep, for the jurisdiction of the courts in:

• Prilep

• Krushevo

Struga
Basic Court in Struga, located in the city of Struga, for the jurisdiction of the courts in:

• Struga

Strumica
Basic Court in Strumica, located in the city of Strumica, for the jurisdiction of the courts in:

• Strumica

• Radovish

Tetovo
Basic Court in Tetovo, located in the city of Tetovo, for the jurisdiction of the courts in:

• Tetovo

Shtip
Basic Court in Shtip, located in the city of Shtip, for the jurisdiction of the courts in:

• Shtip

• Sveti Nikole

Veles
Basic Court in Veles, located in the city of Veles, for the jurisdiction of the courts in:

• Veles

• Gevgelija

• Kavadarci

• Negotino

Gostivar
Basic Court in Gostivar, located in the city of Gostivar, for the jurisdiction of the courts in:

• Gostivar

• Kichevo

• Debar

Court of Appeals Bitola
Address: Blvd. "1st of May"
Phone: (047) 239-319
Website: www.asbitola.mk
The Court of Appeals in Bitola has jurisdiction over the Basic Courts in Bitola, Krushevo, Ohrid, Prilep, Resen, and Struga.

Court of Appeals Skopje
Address: Blvd. "Krste Misirkov"
Phone: (02) 3163-136, (02) 3137-072
Website: www.asskopje.mk
The Court of Appeals in Skopje has jurisdiction over the Basic Courts in Veles, Gevgelija, Kavadarci, Kratovo, Kriva Palanka, Kumanovo, Negotino, Skopje 1 - Skopje and Skopje 2 - Skopje.

Court of Appeals Shtip
Address: "General Mihajlo Apostolski" St. no. 16
Phone: (032) 391-037, (032) 393-455
Website: www.asstip.mk
The Court of Appeals in Shtip has jurisdiction over the Basic Courts in Berovo, Vinica, Delchevo, Kochani, Radovish, Sveti Nikole, Strumica, and Shtip.

Court of Appeals Gostivar
Address: "Zhivko Brajkovski" St. no. 1
Phone: (042) 221-545, (042) 221-544
Website: www.asgostivar.mk
The Court of Appeals in Gostivar has jurisdiction over the Basic Courts in Gostivar, Tetovo, Kichevo, and Debar.

Organization of the work of the Higher Administrative Court in accordance with the Law on Courts (Official Gazette of the Republic of Macedonia No. 58/06, 35/08, and 150/10) and the Law on Administrative Disputes (Official Gazette of the Republic of Macedonia No. 62/06 and 150/10)

The Higher Administrative Court is competent to:

• Decide on appeals against decisions made by the Administrative Court in the first instance;

• Resolve conflicts of jurisdiction between state bodies, between municipalities and the City of Skopje, between the municipalities within the City of Skopje, and in disputes arising from conflicts of jurisdiction between municipalities and the City of Skopje and holders of public authorizations, if provided by law, unless otherwise provided by the Constitution or other laws;

• Perform other duties determined by law.

Organization of the work of the Supreme Court according to the Law on Courts (Official Gazette No. 58/06)

The Supreme Court, as the highest court in the country, is competent to:

• Decide in second instance against the decisions of its councils when provided by law;

• Decide in third and final instance on appeals against decisions of the appellate courts;

• Decide on extraordinary legal remedies against final decisions of the courts and the decisions of its own councils when provided by law;

• Decide on conflicts of jurisdiction between basic courts under different appellate jurisdictions, conflicts of jurisdiction between appellate courts, between the Administrative Court and another court, between the Higher Administrative Court and another court, and determine territorial jurisdiction among these courts;

• Decide, upon request of parties or other participants in the proceedings, on violations of the right to a trial within a reasonable time, in accordance with the procedure determined by law and the principles of the European Convention on Human Rights;

• Perform other tasks as determined by law.

To fulfill its function of ensuring uniform application of laws by the courts, the Supreme Court also:

• Establishes legal principles and general legal opinions on matters of importance for ensuring the uniform application of laws by the courts, either on its own initiative or upon proposal from judges' sessions or judicial departments, and publishes them on the website of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Macedonia;

• Provides opinions on draft laws and regulations that concern issues important for the work of the courts;

• Reviews issues related to the work of the courts, the application of laws, and judicial practice;

• Adopts its Rules of Procedure;

• Adopts an annual work program;

• Submits proposals to the Judicial Council of the Republic of Macedonia for the temporary assignment of judges to another court;

• Submits requests for initiating disciplinary procedures against judges;

• Submits requests to initiate proceedings before the Judicial Council for determining permanent loss of ability to perform judicial duty;

• Appoints the composition of the Council for deciding on appeals against decisions of the Judicial Council for judge dismissal or disciplinary measures, in accordance with the law;

• Decides on requests for protection of legality against decisions of its own councils;

• Decides on requests for recusal of the President of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Macedonia;

• Reviews its annual report and the reports on the work of all courts in the Republic of Macedonia in terms of efficiency and quality, adopts conclusions, and ensures their implementation;

• Carries out other tasks as prescribed by law.

Law on Amendments to the Law on Courts (Official Gazette No. 35/08)
Law on Amendments and Supplements to the Law on Courts (Official Gazette No. 150/10)

Constitutional Justice in Macedonia

Constitutional justice in Macedonia was established for the first time with the Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Macedonia in 1963. The Constitutional Court of Macedonia was constituted and began its work in 1964.

In the conditions of a federative community of the former Yugoslavia, where Macedonia was a federal unit, the Constitutional Court of Macedonia, as an independent body of the Republic for the protection of constitutionality and legality, started working on February 15, 1964. Its position and jurisdiction were regulated by the Constitution, while the procedure and legal effects of its decisions were regulated by the Law on the Constitutional Court of Macedonia from 1963.

Before the establishment of this special body, the representative, i.e., legislative, body was also the bearer of constitutionality, since it was considered that the creator of the laws also determines their constitutionality. This was a generally accepted model in the system of unity of power, i.e., in countries with people's democracies.

The need for establishing constitutional justice was directly connected with the establishment of the courts’ jurisdiction over administrative matters, whose scope until then was limited to deciding only civil and criminal cases. With the introduction of administrative disputes, i.e., judicial control of individual administrative acts, the function of the regular judiciary was completed, covering civil, criminal, and administrative law. This reflected the need for the protection of human and citizen rights to be exercised through courts as separate and independent bodies performing judicial functions, not through the arbitrariness of administrative and other bodies. If courts considered that a law they had to apply was not in accordance with the Constitution, they had the right to propose to the Supreme Court to initiate a procedure to assess the compliance of that law with the Constitution. During this period, the legislative body retained the right to repeal unconstitutional and unlawful regulations and other acts of the executive body, and this body had control over administrative acts.

With the Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Macedonia from 1974 and the Law on the Basics of Procedure and Effect of Decisions of the Constitutional Court from 1976, small changes were made to the Court’s jurisdiction and the legal effects of its decisions, but its position in relation to the legislative and executive authorities remained unchanged. The Constitutional Court was part of the system of unity of power and had the task of ensuring internal harmony of the legal order. Despite relatively limited jurisdiction (among other things, the Court did not have the power to annul or repeal unconstitutional laws but only to state their inconsistency with the Constitution), the Constitutional Court played a significant role in protecting the legal order within the political system based on the principle of unity of power.

One of the basic functions of the Constitutional Court according to the 1974 Constitution was to monitor developments related to the realization of constitutionality and legality, to inform the legislative body about the conditions and problems regarding the realization of constitutionality and legality, and to provide opinions and proposals for adopting and amending laws and for undertaking other measures to ensure constitutionality and legality. In most cases where it intervened regarding the constitutionality of laws, the Constitutional Court practiced a method of warning and advising, leaving it to the legislator to remove the unconstitutionality of the law. In this way, direct cassation intervention was consciously avoided, creating an atmosphere of collaboration towards a common goal.

The citizens of the Republic of Macedonia in the referendum held on September 8, 1991, reaffirming plebiscitarily the statehood and sovereignty of the Republic of Macedonia, expressed their will and voted for the Republic of Macedonia to be constituted as a sovereign and independent state. This was constitutionally finalized with the adoption of the Constitution of the Republic of Macedonia on November 17, 1991.

According to the Constitution, the social-economic and political system of the Republic is based on the principles of the rule of law, human freedoms and rights, separation of powers, market economy, and other fundamental values of modern democratic society.

The current Constitution constitutes the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Macedonia as an organ of the Republic that protects constitutionality and legality and safeguards the fundamental freedoms and rights of the individual and the citizen.