Skopje Visit: A Warm Welcome From Future UIHJ Members
For Some Years Already There Is A Close Cooperation Between UIHJ And Our Colleagues From The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM). Jos Uitdehaag, 1st Quaestor Of The UIHJ Committee, Has Been Involved In The Reforms in FYROM Through The USAID Project CLRP (Commercial Law Reform Program).
Future Members of the UIHJ
The reform also resulted in a new law on enforcement. A new law where the colleagues will became private judicial officers. So far this is rather unique in the Western Balkan countries. Last year the first colleagues were appointed by the Minister of Justice.
Already from the beginning they expressed their intention to become part of UIHJ. In 2007 they will be!
From February 21 until 23 Skopje a regional roundtable on “Common standards among the judicial officer systems in the EU Member States” was held. UIHJ was also represented: by her secretary Bernard Menut and Jos Uitdehaag, 1st quaestor of the UIHJ Committee, who also chaired the round table discussions.
Both UIHJ representatives took advantage of that opportunity also to pay a visit to the National Chamber and to inform our future UIHJ friends on their membership.
600 000 Cases
The close cooperation continued the week after. Jos Uitdehaag went back to FYROM and on March 1st and March 2nd the recently appointed colleagues were trained. Training focused on the practical experiences from the Macedonian colleagues that were appointed last year, but also on important items such as basic management skills.
They will need those management skills. Before the changes in the system the courts were responsible for the enforcement. According to the new law on enforcement that went into force last year, by the end of this year all enforcement cases that are still in court will be ceased. So our colleagues do not have to be afraid that they are without a job: about 600,000 (!) cases have to be distributed among 60-70 enforcement agents…
