OSCE Mission to Skopje holds conference on free legal aid to promote access to justice in South-Eastern Europe

SKOPJE, 7 July 2011 – Government representatives and practitioners involved in introducing free legal aid in the country as well as in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia shared their experiences and lessons learned at an OSCE-supported regional conference that started in Skopje today.

Participants at the conference, organized by the OSCE Mission to Skopje in co-operation with the Justice Ministry, discussed their experiences in trying to enhance existing practices in the field, with the aim of producing recommendations for improving future efforts.

“Countries have a responsibility to enable access to justice in line with international standards by establishing the needed legal frameworks,” said the Head of OSCE Mission to Skopje, Ambassador Ralf Breth.

The conference was held to mark the first anniversary of the introduction of the law on free legal aid in the country.

Justice Minister Mihajlo Manevski said: “The enacting of the law on free legal aid in our country enabled equal access of citizens to institutions, which is in line with constitutional provisions on equal access to justice. One year after the implementation of this law, we are satisfied with the given results.”