Macedonian PM Unveils Further Judicial Reform

Gruevski said the changes included the acceleration of court procedures through the appointment of assistants to each judge and the modernisation of facilities.

He also said that he plans to increase the judicial budget from 0.4% to 0.8% of GDP until 2014.

Gruevski said the government had adopted a large package of laws at Tuesday’s session and it would be submitted to parliament next week. However

“This package of laws, together with the previously submitted group of laws, will represent large, crucial, and I would say 'revolutionary' reform which will be conducted step-by-step,” Gruevski told reporters.

But he said implementation of the laws will take several years.

He also did not explain how his government intends to address the issue of corruption and political influence in courts that has been pinpointed by the European Commission in its annual report on the country.

In its report last year, the EC praised the progress with the judiciary, saying there had been a considerable speeding-up in the work of the court, which had been overloaded for years with unresolved cases.

However, the report advised a further improvement in the courts' independence.

The EC will issue another report this autumn on Macedonia’s progress towards EU membership.

Skopje hopes it will not be more negative than the previous one, which recommended the opening of Macedonia’s EU accession talks.

The EU talks were stalled by Greece’s blockade over the unresolved bilateral “name” issue.