MACEDONIA
I. INTRODUCTION
CEELI's program in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia is relatively new. CEELI first held discussions with Macedonian Government officials in Fall 1992, and later in the year CEELI agreed to send a resident liaison to Skopje, Macedonia's capital city. In late January 1993, Lisa B. Dickieson was posted as CEELI's first liaison to Skopje. Ms. Dickieson resided there until late April 1993, and was succeeded by Barbara Cavanagh. Ms. Cavanagh worked in Skopje until early July, when she was replaced by George J. Farrell. Mr. Farrell will remain in Skopje until early 1994.
II. SUMMARY OF CEELI ACTIVITIES IN MACEDONIA, JANUARY - AUGUST, 1993
A. Resident Liaison Activities to Date
During initial exploratory meetings with CEELI, Macedonian officials identified a number of rule of law issues on which CEELI assistance might be provided. Despite their initial request for assistance, however, little groundwork apparently was laid for the arrival of CEELI's first liaison. Upon their arrival, Ms. Dickieson and her successor devoted much of their time to developing local contacts, explaining the purposes and capabilities of CEELI, and working to identify specific rule of law projects in which CEELI can become involved (as well as becoming acquainted with individuals who can work with CEELI on a regular basis).
Specifically, while in Skopje Ms. Dickieson and/or Ms. Cavanagh met and discussed CEELI's program with:
• Various Government ministers, including the Minister of Justice and Administration; the Minister of Development; the Minister of Planning, Civil Engineering, Telecommunications, and Environment; the Minister of Internal Affairs; and several "Ministers without Portfolio"
• Various legislative branch officials, including the President of the Assembly; the Secretary of the Assembly; and members of the Assembly
• Representatives of the Public Prosecutor's office
• Judges at all levels of the Macedonian judiciary (including the president and justices of the Constitutional Court, who have expressed a strong interest in judicial independence issues) [26]
• Macedonian "solicitors, " and the President of the Bar Association (or Solicitors' Guild) of Macedonia [27]
Additionally, both Ms. Dickieson and Ms. Cavanagh responded to numerous requests for information and written materials on a variety of legal topics, including the American judicial system, American legal education, U.S. regulation of the securities and banking industries, and the U. S. tax system.
Ms. Dickieson also observed sessions of all levels of Macedonian courts, and gathered extensive information regarding the current structure of the Macedonian judicial system. In June, Ms. Cavanagh spoke at a conference of the Association of Business Lawyers of Macedonia, regarding the role of the lawyer in a private market economy.
Since his arrival in Skopje in July, Mr. Fanell has had introductory meetings with many of CEELI's governmental contacts, with the acting USAID representatives, Ronald Nicholson and James Grossman, and with the Director of the USIS Center, Susan Krause. Based upon these meetings, he has identified several projects for which CEELI assistance is desired, and has helped CEELI to develop its long-range strategy for Macedonia. During the coming months, he will work to refine further and implement that strategy.
B. Draft Law Assessments
In February 1993, CEELI provided comments on a draft law on privatization, in response to a request from Jane Miljovski, an economist who serves as a Minister without Portfolio with responsibility for various economic issues. The privatization legislation recently was enacted by the Macedonian Assembly.
C. Legal Education/Sister Law School Program
While in Macedonia, Ms. Dickieson and Ms. Cavanagh met with the dean of the Law Faculty in Skopje, as well as with various law professors and with the librarians at the Law Faculty, to discuss ways in which CEELI can assist the Law Faculty as it works to restructure its programs and to build its library in response to changes in the governmental system. Ms. Dickieson and Ms. Cavanagh also discussed with the Law Faculty ways of strengthening the relationships established with American law schools under CEELI's Sister Law School Program. [28] Farrell plans to pursue these matters with the Law Faculty in the coming months.
III. RULE OF LAW COUNTRY STRATEGY FOR MACEDONIA
A. Current Status of Legal Reform
In November 1991, following its declaration of independence from Yugoslavia, Macedonia adopted a new Constitution. Since that time, it has functioned under the laws that were in place under the prior regime. To date, it has enacted only some 20 new statutes, many of which address such matters as the state name, flag, and national anthem (at least two pieces of more substantive legislation have been passed during the past several months: one on privatization, and another on the structure and functions of local government). Accordingly, little progress has been made on legal reforms of any type.
B. Priority Issues for CEELI Assistance
CEELI's work in Skopje to date has revealed that the young Macedonian state requires assistance on a very broad range of rule of law reforms. While acknowledging this fact, however, CEELI's hosts from the outset have repeatedly focused on the young country's urgent need for assistance on a variety of economic issues (including, for example, reforms to the tax, banking, and insurance systems, and creation of a stock market/securities system). Moreover, at the time of CEELI's arrival in-country last January, its governmental hosts had not identified any specific rule of law projects on which CEELI assistance was desired, or any specific individuals with whom CEELI could work on a regular basis. Accordingly, one of CEELI's highest priorities in Macedonia continues to be the establishment of a working group comprised of representatives of the Government, the Law Faculty, and the Macedonian bar, that can identify and prioritize specific projects for which CEELI's assistance is desired and feasible.
In the meantime, as a result of its ongoing exploratory discussions with Government officials, judges, academics, and members of the bar, CEELI has identified the following rule of law issues on which it hopes to provide assistance over the next six months. CEELI's primary method of providing assistance during this period will continue to be via the work of its resident liaison in Skopje; as discussed below, CEELI also plans to send a legal Specialist to Skopje to work on ethnic minority issues. [29]
1. Priority Issue #1: Equal Rights/Ethnic Minority Issues
(a) Goal Statement
CEELI's goal is to assist the Macedonians as they seek to draft, enact, and implement laws and regulations that ensure equitable treatment of the various minority groups that comprise the Macedonian populace.
(b) Factual and Legal Background
For the nearly six centuries that the geographic region comprising "Macedonia" was under Ottoman Turkish rule, ethnic Albanian Macedonians, a largely Muslim population, enjoyed a prominent and privileged position. In the modem-day Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (which covers only one part of the Ottoman Macedonian administrative region), ethnic Albanians make up a minority of the population (they are estimated to comprise between 20 and 40 percent of the total population of over two million), while ethnic "Macedonians" (Macedonians of Slavic ethnicity, mainly Orthodox Christians) are in the majority (comprising approximately 60 to 70 percent of the population). Most ethnic Albanian leaders claim that Albanians are significantly under-represented in the current Government; at this time, there are 23 Albanian members of the 120-member Assembly, and five Albanian ministers among the 27 members of the Government (which is made up of a coalition of various parties). [30]
Because of its central Ballcan location and mixed ethnic population, the territory comprising the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia historically has been the source of much dispute and several wars involving Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia, and Albania. Nationalists in each of these countries envision the territory that now is part of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia completing their respective national domain: Greek nationalists regard Macedonia as the legacy of Alexander the Great and part of its own northern province of "Macedonia;" Bulgarian and Serbian nationalists see Macedonia as a historic part of their respective Slavic domains; and Albanian nationalists see Macedonia as part of a "Greater Albania." Both ethnic Albanian and ethnic Macedonian leaders have said they wish to preserve the Republic's independence in the face of these outside pressures, but some ethnic Macedonians claim that ethnic Albanians are interested only in secession.
The new Macedonian Constitution provides that "Macedonia is constituted as the national state of the Macedonian people, in which the integral civil equality and enduring coexistence of the Macedonian people with Albanians, Turks, Wallachians, and Gypsies and other nationalities inhabiting the Republic of Macedonia are protected." [31] It also states that "[c]itizens of the Republic of Macedonia have equal rights and freedoms regardless of sex, race, color of skin, national and social origin, political or religious beliefs, or property ownership and social status. . . . All citizens are equal before the Constitution and the law." [32]
Notwithstanding the guarantees set out in the Constitution, however, the Albanian minority has asserted that existing laws and their implementation discriminate against them as a group. Thus, ethnic Albanians complain that there is no Albanian-language university and little Albanian-language instruction at the primary and secondary levels of education. They also claim the right to use their national symbol, the flag of Albania -- a move ethnic Macedonians see as paving the way for secession.
The Albanians also protest blatant, national manifestations of ethnic Macedonian culture, (e.g., the depiction of Orthodox Christian churches on the country's new currency). The ethnic Macedonian and Albanian cultures (faith, traditions, language, even alphabet) are so radically different as to make misunderstandings frequent and serious. Neither group mixes readily with the other.
(c) Priority Project Identified by CEELI
The Center for Ethnic Relations, which is a branch of the Macedonian Institute for Sociological, Political and Juridical Research of the University of Skopje, conducts research on legal and educational issues affecting ethnic minority rights, organizes seminars, lectures, and conferences on such issues, and assists in the preparation of legislation on such issues. In July 1993, the head of the Center, Dr. Emilija Simoska, requested that CEELI provide a Legal Specialist to come to Skopje for a two to three month period to assist in analyzing existing laws regarding minority rights and in "constructing models for their improvement."
The role of CEELI's specialist presumably would be to review existing laws on ethnic minority rights, and make recommendations regarding (a) the need to implement such laws more effectively; (b) the need for additional laws; and (c) the need for programs (to be co-sponsored by government and private agencies) aimed at fostering greater inter-ethnic tolerance. Additionally, pursuant to Dr. Simoska's suggestion, the Specialist also would lecture on the subject of ethnic minority rights.
In addition to Dr. Simoska, CEELI's governmental hosts in Macedonia have repeatedly expressed an interest in having CEELI provide assistance with the "ethnic minority issue." The significance of the instant request from Dr. Simoska is that: (a) it has been requested by the academic community in apparent cooperation with the Government; (b) the University created the Center for Ethnic Relations specifically to undertake a program of this nature; (c) a significant part of the initiative is already underway, as factfiders are presently gathering data for the project; [33] (d) it compliments specific constitutional provisions aimed at securing human rights; (e) it is very timely, because it will precede or be contemporaneous with the drafting of legislation to implement the Constitution; and (f) hopefully, it will create a benchmark for the BaIkans.
In view of CEELI's access to American practitioners and academics knowledgeable in the field of the law on equal rights, CEELI is well-suited to provide the requested specialist. The magnitude and urgent nature of the problem at issue -- the treatment of ethnic minority groups in Macedonia -- make the project a high priority.
(d) Benchmarks - Targeted Areas of Improvement
This project can be broken down into the following benchmarks:
(i) Compilation and Translation of Existing Laws/Recruiting of Legal Specialist
During the first phase of the project, CEELI's liaison in Skopje will work with Dr. Simoska in-country to identify and have translated all existing law related to the treatment of ethnic minority groups in Macedonia. CEELI contemplates that this phase of the project will require eight to ten weeks to complete.
During this same time period, CEELI's Washington office will recruit and interview candidates for the specialist position, and will select the specialist.
(ii) Review of Laws in U.S./Gathering of Additional Facts In-Country
During the second phase of the project, the specialist will (while still in the U.S.) review existing Macedonian law, and become knowledgeable about the historic bases for inter-ethnic tensions in Macedonia.
During the same time period, CEELI's liaison in Skopje will seek to establish contacts with individuals, groups, and government officials in Macedonia who are knowledgeable about the ethnic minority problem there, and to gather additional information about the issue from these contacts. Of particular importance during this phase of the project is the forging of ties in Skopje with government officials responsible for ethnic minority/equal rights issues.
(iii) In-Country Work
During the third phase of the project, the specialist will travel to Skopje, where he/she will work directly with officials at the Center for Ethnic Relations and with other knowledgeable contacts (established by the liaison, see above), to (a) gain additional insight into the nature of the problems confronting the Macedonians; (b) gain additional insight into existing law; (c) consult on a daily basis and provide the Macedonians with information about American (and other countries') "equal rights" law; and (d) prepare a written report containing a description of the problems confronting the Macedonians and recommendations for addressing such problems. Additionally, while in Macedonia the specialist may (if requested) lecture on the topic of ethnic relations.
(e) Intended Result /Impact
The Macedonians acknowledge the existence of an "ethnic minority" problem, and have expressed an interest in having CEELI provide technical legal assistance on this issue. In view of the deep-rooted, historic bases for the problem, an ethnically diverse, harmonious society cannot be created overnight. However, establishing solid legal bases for equitable treatment of all ethnic groups in Macedonia is a crucial first step towards better inter-ethnic relations. This project will help to focus the Macedonians on the concrete steps that need to be taken to create the legal bases needed to protect minority rights.
2. Priority Issue # 2: Criminal Justice (In Developmental Stage)
The Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ministry of Justice, and Public Prosecutor's Office share responsibility for law enforcement and criminal justice in Macedonia. The Minister of Internal Affairs, Ljubomir Frckoski, a young, energetic former law professor, recently approached CEELI's liaison and discussed with him the possibility of obtaining assistance on a number of issues currently confronting his Ministry. Specifically, he has expressed interest in advice on, inter alia, coordinating the work of the Ministry with the Public Prosecutor's Office; how to train members of the police force to deal equitably with suspects, without regard to ethnic background; and how to balance certain individual rights granted in the Constitution (such as the guarantee of the free "reception and transmission of information") with the Ministry's duty to enforce the law.
Mr. Farrell currently is working with the Ministry of Internal Affairs to identify specific projects related to the above issues on which CEELI assistance may be appropriate. In the meantime, however, the Ministry has asked Mr. Farrell to participate in the planning and presentation of a seminar/conference that it is being planned for this fall. While the issue(s) to be addressed at the seminar are still being developed, some of the issues listed above may be included. The Ministry of Internal Affairs is sponsoring the program, but the Ministry of Justice, Public Prosecutor's Office, and the Law Faculty also are expected to participate. Mr. Farrell's participation in the program will provide an excellent opportunity to establish closer working relationships with the Macedonians, and to more sharply define the criminal justice issues on which assistance is needed.
3. Priority Issue #3: Reform Related to the Practice of Law (In Developmental Stage)
As noted above, CEELI's liaisons have established contacts with various private practitioners in Skopje, and with the Bar Association there. CEELI's contacts have expressed a strong interest h assistance on various issues related to the reform of the practice of law in Macedonia (these issues include the role of the bar in providing continuing legal education to its members; the role of private practitioners in a democracy; legal ethics; how to increase the stature of lawyers in the society; and how to control the unauthorized practice of law). Accordingly, Mr. Farrell currently is working to identify specific projects in this area on which CEELI assistance may be provided.
4. Priority Issue # 4: Judicial Reform (In Developmental Stage)
As noted above, the President of Macedonia's Constitutional Court has expressed strong interest in CEELI assistance in connection with Macedonia's efforts to develop an independent judiciary. Mr. Farrell will continue to investigate the current status of reforms on this issue, and to explore ways in which CEELI can provide direct assistance.
5. Priority Issue #5: Legal Education/Law Faculty Reform (In Developmental Stage)
CEELI will continue to explore, with officials at the Law Faculty, concrete ways of providing assistance to the Law Faculty as it seeks to restructure its programs and establish communications with Western law schools.
Additionally, Minister Jane Miljovski recently proposed that a new course be created, in the nature of a "continuing education" course for practicing lawyers and government officials, addressing legal issues raised by the changes to the government and economic systems. Minister Miljovski has suggested that the course be held at the Law Faculty, and that CEELI participate in its planning and implementation. Mr. Farrell plans to explore this matter further.
6. Priority Issue # 6: Legislative Assessments - Economic Reform
As noted above, CEELI's Macedonia hosts repeatedly have requested assistance on a wide variety of economic issues. In the past, CEELI has provided written comments on , Macedonia's draft privatization law, and in response to a recent request from the Minister of a Finance it will in the near future provide comments on four key pieces of tax reform legislation.
In response to a request from the Ministry of Development, CEELI also will assess a draft law on public enterprises, and a draft law on the stimulation of underdeveloped areas of Macedonia.
7. Additional Potential Issues
During the past several weeks, CEELI's Macedonian hosts have suggested to Mr. Farrell that assistance on various additional matters may be needed, including: (a) the drafting of a new "administrative code;" (b) regional planning and restructuring; and (c) legislation on "public enterprises" and on the "stimulation of underdeveloped areas of Macedonia." Additionally, CEELI has been asked to assist with the legal aspects of a proposed USIS project aimed at establishing regional centers that would teach short-term courses in small business management.
CEELI will provide written comments on the legislation identified above, and Mr. Farrell is exploring possible CEELI involvement in the remaining projects. [34]
C. Conclusion
Although CEELI's assistance program in Macedonia is relatively new, CEELI believes it is well-positioned to strengthen the infrastructure needed to ensure a functioning legal system based upon the rule of law, by building an independent judiciary, an equitable criminal justice system, and a well-organized, professional bar.
CEELI's work also will help to establish the legal bases for the equitable treatment of ethnic minorities in Macedonia. In this regard, the present crisis in Bosnia stems from the very issues to be addressed by the project developed by the Macedonian Center for Ethnic Relations. It seems reasonable to assume that, if similar work had been done with regard to the problems in the North, a different result might have ensued. CEELI views it as critical that these pressing human rights issues be addressed in an academic environment with the type and nature of support as has been expressed by the leading political figures in the Macedonian Government.
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Notes:
26. CEELI has provided the Constitutional Court with (1) materials compiled for a February 1991 CEELI workshop on the independence of the Yugoslav judiciary, including criteria for selecting judges in the United States; (2) procedural rules used in the U.S. Supreme Court; (3) ethical rules for lawyers and judges; and (4) information about U.S. Supreme Court decisions on issues such as human rights, freedom of speech, and discrimination.
27. This quasi-official group speaks on behalf of all lawyers who have passed the bar examination and who represent private clients.
28. The Law Faculty in Skopje has been paired with law schools at the University of Baltimore, New York University, and the University of Dayton.
29. In addition to continuing its rule of law work in Skopje, CEELI would like to explore with USAID the possibility of expanding its work in Macedonia to encompass much-needed commercial law assistance.
30. The most recent census in Macedonia apparently was in 1991. It may not have accurately reflected the number of ethnic Albanian Macedonians, because of low Albanian participation (many Albanians either refused to participate or were unable to do so because the census forms were not available in Albanian). Accordingly, the number of ethnic Albanians may actually be greater than the census results indicate.
31. Id. at "Preamble. "
32. Id. at Article 9.
33. Dr. Simoska and her staff already have begun to assemble demographic data regarding the ethnic composition of their country's population; the existence and effectiveness of existing statutes and programs; and the attitudes toward ethnic issues of Macedonian citizens.
34. Mr. Farrell also is exploring the possibility of assisting the Macedonians on various other matters, including the following: (1) developing conflict of interest guidelines for government officials (including Assembly members and judges); (2) developing a program aimed at encouraging operation of a free press; and (3) developing some type of governmental body aimed at ensuring coordination of legislative initiatives.