Lidija Zimbovska and Zoran Gerasimoski candidates for president of Skopje Court of Appeal

Two judges have formally entered the contest for the presidency of the Skopje Court of Appeal: Judge Lidija Zimbovska and the acting president of the court, Zoran Gerasimoski. Their candidacies were among several personnel matters considered today by the Judicial Council.

At the opening of the Council session, the commission charged with checking whether applications arrived on time and were complete delivered its report. The commission chair, Sadula Izairi, read the findings from the meeting held on 26 August 2026 and said the commission confirmed the applications were submitted within the deadline set in the public announcement.

Izairi reported that he and commission member Ivica Nikolovski considered Gerasimoski’s file to be orderly and complete and that the selection procedure should continue for his candidacy. However, commission member Tanja Čačarova-Ilievska disagreed, arguing that Gerasimoski had not provided proof he met the requirement in Article 47, paragraph 1 of the Courts Law: uninterrupted six years of judicial service in the Skopje Court of Appeal as of the announcement date, 31.07.2026.

Reading the commission’s report, Izairi quoted the law’s relevant finding: "The same article shows that, according to the data available to the Judicial Council, candidate Zoran Gerasimoski was elected as a judge of the Skopje Court of Appeal on 28.11.2017, and was elected as a member of the Judicial Council on 20.09.2022, a function he exercised until 08.06.2023, during which period his judicial office was suspended."

By contrast, the commission decided unanimously that the procedure for Judge Zimbovska should proceed. Zimbovska was elected a judge of the Skopje Court of Appeal on 10.02.2020 and serves in the criminal department, according to the court’s published information.

The Judicial Council adopted the commission reports by seven votes in favor and four against, allowing the selection process to move to the next stage. The four members who voted against were Tanja Čačarova-Ilievska, Suzana Joshevska-Anastasovska, Antoaneta Dimovska and Džaneta Bektović.

Other appointments and assessments

Separately, the Council also reviewed the application file for president of the Basic Court Struga, where Tanche Petrevski was the sole applicant, and completed several other leadership appointments. Miroslav Petrovski was chosen president of the Basic Court Gostivar; Oruç Abazovski was chosen president of the Basic Court Debar; and Valentina Burovska was selected president of the Basic Court Sveti Nikole.

The Council approved quarterly court activity reports for April–June 2026 and concluded that courts at the state level remained generally untimely. Members noted a widespread shortage of judges and, in particular, court staff, which the Council identified as one of the main obstacles to improving the efficiency of the judicial system.

Photo: Printskrin