Unofficial translation Courtesy of the OSCE Mission to

Pursuant to article 123 of Law on Courts (“Official gazette of Republic of ” no. 58/2006 and 62/2006.) Minister of Justice brought the

INSTRUCTIONS ON THE MANNER OF OVERTAKING CASES

I By this directive is prescribed the manner of handing over cases among the courts on whose competency are directed the work of the courts mentioned on the articles 28, 30, 31 and 32 from the law on Courts (in the following text: the Law).

I I The cases from article 30 of the Law for which the first instance procedure upon the criminal acts and the misdemeanors that the procedure has not been started yet on the day of the implementation of the Law on Courts by the basic courts with basic competences, are referred to the actual and locally competent courts with the expanded competences from the article 31 from the Law. The cases of the basic courts with the basic competences who upon the appeal are returned for a second decision pursuant to article 31 par. 3 from the Law, are referred to actual and locally competent courts with expanded competences and are solved on reasonable time. Basic Court except the Basic Court Skopje I, and the Basic Court Skopje I I, who upon the started cases until the day of the implementation of the Law on courts and have not brought first instance verdict, are finishing on the reasonable time. Basic Court Skopje I and Basic Court Skopje I I, from the day of the implementation of this law, are continuing to act upon all the cases, at latest 15 days from the day of adoption of the Decision of the Court Council of Republic of Macedonia on the number of the judges in the Basic Court Skopje I and the Basic Court Skopje I I, pursuant to article 119 par. 2 from the Law, and will recede the cases to the competent court in accordance to the article 32 par. 3 and 4 from the Law. All the court in the Republic of Macedonia that will receive cases after 01.01.2007 for which in accordance to the amended actual and local competence pursuant to the Law on courts actually and locally are competent some other courts, the president of the court or judge determined by the president of the court, it is determined the registering of those cases in to a special register “R” and it recedes to the actually and locally competent courts, in accordance to this directives. For the cases that are receded the court is not claimed incompetent with a decision, on the recede the parties are mandatory informed.

I I I Basic Court of Bitolla, , Skopje I, and Stip until 31.03.2007 are forming special court departments competent for judging of acts on the field of organized crime, pursuant to article 122 from the Law and are starting with their work from 01.04.2007. Until the day of the establishment of the special court departments competent for judging of the acts from the field of organized crime, are continuing to act upon all the cases the Basic Court in , , , Strumica, Stip, Kocani, , , Tetovo, Veles, , Kicevo, , and Skopje I and the cases are finished within the reasonable time. Up to the date of establishment of specialized court departments competent for judging of acts from the field of the organized crime, the cases from the field of the organized crime who upon the appeal are returned on a second decision are receded to the courts from article 32 par. 1 from the Law and the cases are finished within the reasonable time. Until the establishment of the specialized court departments competent for judging of cases from the field of the organized crime, the cases from the field of the organized crime that upon the appeal are returned for a second decision are receded to the courts from the article 32 par. 1 from the Law and the cases are finished within the reasonable time. The cases on the field of the organized crime that upon the appeal are returned for a second decision after 01.04.2007 are receded to the court that has brought the first instance decision. These courts the cases returned on a second decision are receding to the competent courts pursuant to article 32 par. 1 from the Law, they are mandatory informing the parties about the recede.

I V Until the establishment of the Appellate Court of Gostivar, the Appellate Court of Skopje it continues to decide the cases that are under the competence of this court. After the establishment of the Appellate Court in Gostivar, the Appealate court in Skopje it finishes the cases submitted for a decision upon the appeal within a reasonable time.

V The court that has completed the handover of unfinished cases to the real and territorial competent courts in accordance with the Law, shall previously dissociate the unfinished cases in the proper registries and lists, while in the column for remarks shall be noted the name of the court to which the case is being sent. The courts to which cases are being handed over, shall put the case files in new folders with a list of writs that are enclosed, but shall also keep the old folder with its first page scratched over with two red diagonal lines. Then, the case is to be filed in the registry in accordance with the Court Rulebook with a date of reception, while in the column for remarks shall be noted the name of the court from which the case was received and the date of first reception.

VI Unfinished cases that include CORPORA DELICTA shall be handed over jointly and a record of handover shall be created. In the record of handover of CORPORA DELICTA shall be noted the number from the book of CORPORA DELICTYA, the number of the case it is related to, and more immediate characteristic marks of the case (stamp, number, etc). If the CORPORA DELICTA are not in the court, but are handed over to other body or organisation for safekeeping, a separate record shall be created for each case. Inn the record shall be stated the number of the handover receipt, the contents, and the body or organisation where CORPORA DELICTA is. Gold coins, jewellery, deposits, foreign currencies, and other valuable items which are deposited for safekeeping in the National Bank of Republic of Macedonia as CORPORA DELICTA shall be listed individually in a separate record. Therein shall also be enclosed the document with which it is confirmed the reception of those CORPORA DELICTA for safekeeping by the National Bank of republic of Macedonia.

VII The financial means in court deposits, temporary deposits, and regular court deposits that are kept in the court cash-desk or on the court account, are handed over to the court cash-desk or transferred to the bank account of the court to which the case s being handed over. A separate record shall be made for the handover of deposits.

VIII The handover of unfinished cases from courts in accordance with these Instructions shall be performed by a Commission comprised of seven members. The commission shall be created by the presidents of courts involved in the handover. The commission shall be comprised of judges and managing clerks in the court administration or registry keepers. Each court shall give three members while the president of the commission shall be a judge from the court that is taking over the cases. A record of the handover shall be created in four copies of which one shall be given to each court, one to the Ministry of Justice and one to the Judicial Council of Republic of Macedonia. With the record shall be enclosed a list of cases that are being handed/taken over. In the list shall be noted the number of the case under which it was filed, names and surnames of the parties, legal base of the case (criminal, civil, etc). The commission for handover of cases that involve CORPORA DELICTA shall create a separate record that shall describe the object of handover in detail and that shall contain every characteristic needed for identification. The commission for handover of court deposits shall create a separate record that shall include all deposits with annotated number of the case the deposit is related to, the deposits, associated documents, and accounts. The records of handover of the lists are bind with a string and sealed with red wax. Each sheet of the record and the handover record shall be signed by the members of the Commission.

IX The cases that were finished with valid decision and archived shall remain in the archives of the courts that has closed those cases. Data on archived finished cases, upon request from other body or by terms of office, shall be provided to the requester when there is a need to have an insight in the case file, in accordance with the Court Workbook. As an archive, in regards to these Instructions, shall be considered writs in specific cases whereas the procedure is finished with a valid decision, registry entries, excerpt from the registry entries, directories, cards, and other associated books and documents that are maintained in courts in accordance with the Court Workbook and contain the flow of writs, deposits, etc.

X These Instructions shall enter into force on the day of their promulgation in the “Official Gazette of Republic of Macedonia”.

No. 07-5644/2 29 December 2006 Minister of Justice Skopje Mihajlo Manevski