MINISTRY of JUSTICE Published at the Official Gazette on June 1, 2007, Effective Date: June 15,2007 COURT BOOK of RULES Skopje
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MINISTRY OF JUSTICE -Unofficial translation- By Judicial Reform Implementation Project/DPK Consulting as a part of its Technical assistance in the area of legislative drafting Published at the Official Gazette on June 1, 2007, Effective Date: June 15,2007 COURT BOOK OF RULES Skopje, June 2007 Pursuant to Article 84 paragraph 1 of the Law on Courts (“Official Gazette of the Republic of Macedonia no.58/06 and 62/06), and upon a prior opinion by the Supreme Court of the Republic of Macedonia, the Minister of Justice has adopted the following COURT BOOK OF RULES SECTION ONE I. GENERAL PROVISIONS ON THE INTERNAL OPERATION OF COURTS Chapter One GENERAL PROVISIONS Article 1 The Court Book of Rules regulates the internal organization of courts, manner of their operation, keeping registry books and other books, dealing with documents, forms, activities related to international legal assistance and acting upon written submits, calling and organizing lay judges, positioning of permanent court certified translators, interpreters and expert witnesses, keeping of statistics and records and professional training of personnel, regulations for special marking of the court vehicles, keeping penal records, records of the misdemeanor sanctions determined by law, records collected with authorized monitoring of communications, other matters regulated by law, as well as other issues relevant to the operation of courts. Article 2 The internal operation of courts shall ensure legal, prompt and efficient operation, as well as, unhindered, cost effective and timely realization of rights and obligation of parties. Article 3 The provisions from the Court Book of Rules shall be applied also in the Supreme Court of the Republic of Macedonia, unless certain matters are separately regulated with separate provisions or with the Book of Rules of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Macedonia. The president of the court and the court secretary shall ensure the application of the Court Book of Rules. The judges and other court employees shall directly apply the Court Book of Rules within the frames of their scope of work. The Ministry of Justice shall take care for the application of the Court Book of Rules and shall supervise its application. 2 For the needs of monitoring the Court Book of Rules, the Minister of Justice can establish a Committee that will give professional opinions on the application of the court Book of Rules. The Committee shall be composed of five members: one justice from the Supreme Court of the Republic of Macedonia, one appellate court judge, one basic court judge and two representatives from the Ministry of Justice. Article 4 The application of the Court Book of Rules in performing the activities of court management shall also be followed by the President of a higher instance court, in particular by following the activities of lower instance courts, inspections, reports, holding meetings with president judges, judges and other employees, as well as by reviewing the activities of the court management. The President of the higher instance court shall point out to the President of the relevant court the determined irregularities and omissions regarding the application of the Court Book of Rules. Article 5 The work program of the court shall contain specific activities and tasks from the scope of operation of the court, in particular: - the type and number of cases the court will act upon; - the activities and tasks related to tracking and studying the problems arising from the court practice, that are relevant for the proper and unique implementation of the law; - the activities and tasks related to initiation of a procedure for evaluation of the legality and compliance with the Constitution, if such an issue arises in the course of the court procedure. Article 6 For the purpose of obtaining greater publicity in the work, the court trial shall be held in a premise that allows presence of a greater number of individuals. Manner of keeping classified information with appropriate level of classification determined by law Article 7 Court employees, in the course of performing their duties related to data, cases and materials, shall act in a manner that ensures keeping the classified information with appropriate level of classification, especially in relation to the entry and distribution of data, filing of documents, providing documents for review and not allowing unauthorized persons to read, transcribe or make notes from documents, pursuant to Articles 94 and 95 of the Law on Courts. 3 Chapter Two COURT MANAGEMENT 1. Internal Operation of the Court Management Article 8 The internal operation of the court management includes the following activities: - manner of performing the internal operation of the court, departments and offices; - preparations for defining the annual work program; - ensuring timely and efficient performance of the activities; - preparation of financial plans, calculations and annual balance sheet; - conduct of court and administrative activities by applying the most relevant technical means and methods; - preparation of general acts on the internal organization and systematization of activities and tasks, labor relations, establishment and distribution of working assets and other general acts that govern the internal relations in the court and the collective agreements; - preparation of materials, draft decisions and conduct of administrative activities related to the work; - keeping records and summoning lay judges and attorneys, ex officio; - performing activities in relation to the permanent court interpreters, translators and expert witnesses; - filling out statistical reports and statistical questionnaires; - performing activities related to international legal assistance; - professional development and training of judges and other court employees - provision of material, financial, spatial and personnel conditions for operation of the court; - performing activities related to issuance of a court bulletin; - managing the court building and property and taking care of their maintenance; - taking up measures for timely and efficient enforcement of sanctions; - keeping penal records and performing activities from the penal records keeping; - performing activities related to the misdemeanor sanctions; - keeping records on the misdemeanor sanctions; - performing activities related to the records collected with authorized monitoring of communications; - other matters regulated by law, 2. President of the Court Article 9 The President of the Court, in the line of his/her responsibilities for provision of conditions for operation of the court, shall ensure the direct application of the provisions of the Court Book of Rules, undertake measures for removing the weaknesses and mistakes, take care for orderly, efficient and timely conduct of activities (court 4 management activities) preparation, service and acting upon decisions from the court management field. Article 10 The President of the Court shall investigate the reasons due to which a main inquiry or hearing for the main hearing has not been scheduled within the set time limit or the reasons for exceeding the time limit for pronouncing, publishing and preparing a decision and shall undertake appropriate measures for removing these obstacles. The President of the Court shall supervise the work of the specialized court departments, intake office and other offices by reviewing the registry books, calendars and other supporting books that keep permanent track of the cases. The president of the court or the court secretary, by reviewing the duties and efficiency of court departments and separate offices, shall have a continual insight in the work of the court in general and of the employees and shall undertake relevant measures to prevent the postponement of procedures for cases that last longer and for removal of gaps and mistakes in the work of the court. Article 11 The president of the court may propose certain activities and tasks to be reviewed on a meeting of judges and measures to be undertaken for removal of the irregularities and weaknesses in the work, as well as for improvement of methods of work for achieving better results. 3. Meetings and Debates Article 12 The President of the Court shall, when needed, summon the lay judges for the purpose of discussing current and important matters related to their work. Article 13 Courts shall occasionally hold debates and consultative meetings together with representatives from other courts, bodies and organizations regarding the application of laws. All judges shall participate at the meetings and debates, but in cases the topics of such meetings refer to the field of work of a separate court department, only the judges from that department shall participate. 5 Article 14 The review of draft regulations and other materials, upon which the court needs to give its own opinion, suggestions or remarks shall be performed at a session of judges, while in case of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Macedonia, at a general session. The joint meetings of the court, and the bar, notaries, enforcement agents and mediators from that region shall be held for the purpose of reviewing issues of mutual interest, the work of the court, provision of legal help and the performance of the court function. 4. Records and Training of Court Interns Article 15 Records shall be kept for all court interns and for each of them a separate form shall be prepared containing data about the time spent in specialized court departments and offices or in some other bodies where the court intern has been sent to practice and information regarding the tasks and activities conducted by him/her. (Form no.1) The working diary kept by the court clerks shall contain the activities and tasks they have performed in the course of the month (Form no.2) Upon finishing the practice, the head of the specialized court department or the body shall verify the working diary, thus confirming the accuracy of data regarding the performed activities and tasks in the court or the relevant body. The court secretary shall take care of the proper instructions given to court interns for performing their practical work, thus directly supervising their work.