The basic mission of the Coalition “All for Fair Trials” is to respect human rights and freedoms, especially international standards for a fair trial, through various forms of action to increase their implementation, to initiate institutional and legal reforms as well as to restore citizens’ trust in the judiciary and other institutions of the system.
The project “The measure of detention in the domestic and in the European practice” aims to influence the reform processes in the judiciary in terms of the use of the detention measure and other measures to ensure attendance, in correlation with the recommendations of the EU and Chapter 23.
The European concept of detention means that it must be used only as a last resort and should be imposed only if other measures are not sufficient to ensure the smooth running of the criminal proceedings. On the other hand, the practice in R.N. Macedonia often shows frequent use of detention, unlike other security measures, for which the domestic professional public and the European Union are concerned. The case-law of the European Court of Human Rights often finds a violation of human rights due to insufficient explanations for the merits of the detention or the excessive length of detention imposed by domestic courts, which in turn raises questions and doubts about the use of detention as a masked form of punishment before the person is convicted.
The disproportionate use of detention entails other human rights violations, such as inhumane or degrading prison conditions caused by overcrowding, violations of the principle of presumption of innocence, and even violations of the principles and standards of fair and equitable trial. At the same time, excessive and frequent use of detention can be counterproductive, so instead of reducing crime, it can actually increase its rate by increasing recidivism.
In essence, there are several reasons that can affect the excessive use of detention, but unfortunately in North Macedonia, the competent authorities have not conducted thorough research on the use of this measure and the impact it has. The planned activities within the project “The measure of detention in the domestic and in the European practice” will explore the application of the measure of detention in the country, both in terms of its necessity and compatibility with domestic law, the application of alternative measures of detention, and also in terms of a comparative review of the practice of judicial systems in Europe and guidelines and recommendations from the European Union, the Council of Europe and the United Nations. The analysis of the data will make it possible to diagnose the causes and problems associated with the application of the detention measure as the strictest security measure, will enable public debate, and will contribute to the proper implementation of EU and Council of Europe recommendations on the rule of law.
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17 June 2020