Ohrid forum launched to boost trust in constitutional courts
Constitutional courts from North Macedonia, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina formed a regional platform to promote independence, transparency and efficiency.
A regional platform linking constitutional courts from North Macedonia, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina was established in Ohrid with the aim of strengthening public trust in constitutional justice.
The initiative — launched by the Constitutional Court of the Republic of North Macedonia together with the constitutional courts of Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina — sets out a program of cooperation, experience‑sharing and common standards to enhance the independence, transparency and efficiency of constitutional adjudication.
Three pillars and practical steps
The forum highlights three core principles that should guide reforms and everyday practice:
- independence;
- transparency;
- efficiency.
To bolster judicial independence the participants propose measures such as strengthening the personal and institutional integrity of judges, adopting a Code of Conduct for judges with universal constitutional‑court standards, and ensuring timely, depoliticized and transparent selection procedures so courts work at full capacity.
On transparency, the forum recommends bringing court work closer to citizens by publishing decisions accessibly, issuing explanatory statements, holding briefings with judges, allowing media presence or live streams of sessions where appropriate, and using suitable social media. Where judges make public appearances, the forum stresses limits on statements, including a prohibition on discussion of ongoing cases, a prohibition on prejudging outcomes of current or future proceedings, avoidance of any ad hominem remarks (especially against judges or other public figures), and protecting the credibility and institutional authority of the Court.
Regarding efficiency, the platform underlines the need for timely proceedings, respect for deadlines, modern case‑management software, searchable databases of domestic and international practice, and technology for conducting and broadcasting sessions if courts decide to do so.
The Ohrid Forum also proposes a Memorandum to set common standards for transparency, shared indicators and methodology to monitor public trust, periodic joint analyses of results and regional linkage of constitutional‑case databases. The initiative follows discussions held during a regional conference in Ohrid on 16 and 17 September 2026 and was supported by the German Foundation for International Legal Cooperation (IRZ).
Photo: press material from the event
