The Penitentiary System In The Republic Of North Macedonia: The Need For Urgent Reforms

• In Event: Prison Working Group: Prison reforms and policies

Abstract

“The degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons.”
Fyodor Dostoevsky
(“The House of the Dead”, 1862)
In the paper, the author analyses the characteristics of the North Macedonian penitentiary system, the position of prisoners de jure and de facto, and the protection of the rights of prisoners through the prism of the reports of the Committee for Prevention of Torture and points to the need for urgent reforms of the penitentiary system in the Republic of North Macedonia.
The author concludes that the penitentiary system in Macedonia has the features of a modern system. It is one of the penitentiary systems that fully incorporates the Nelson Mandela Rules, the Revised Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners and the European Prison Rules in the Law on Execution of Sanctions. But the system de facto faces serious weaknesses.
Also, the author disputes the question why prisoners in such conditions of the penitentiary system do not require judicial protection of their rights. Also, the author emphasizes the need for systematic research on the protection of prisoners’ rights using legal means, such as, legal advice and legal means of convicted persons and the right to appeal to international bodies.

Author

• Aleksandra Gruevska Drakulevski, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University, Iustinianus Primus Law Faculty in Skopje