The meeting between the Head of the Criminal Law Co-operation Unit, Directorate General of Human Rights and Rule of Law of the Council of Europe, Ms Tanja Rakusic- Hadzic, and the Minister of Internal Affairs, Mr Oliver Spasovski, took place on 28 June 2017 in Skopje. The meeting focused on the cooperation activities between the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Council of Europe under the auspices of the Horizontal Facility Action “Enhancing Human Rights Policing”.

At the meeting, Minister Spasovski expressed his support to the project and reinstated Ministry of Internal Affairs’s commitment to continue the cooperation with the Council of Europe in the area of establishing an external oversight mechanism over the work of the police, strengthening the work of the Department for Internal Control, Criminal Investigations and Professional Standards, as well as with regard to the in-service training of police officers in the area of human rights and police ethics. The Minister stressed that introduction of the external oversight mechanism in the country is much needed and acknowledged the proposal for establishment of a separate unit within the Public Prosecutor’s Office and a department within the Ombudsman’s Office, which will also involve the civil sector, as an excellent and sustainable solution.

Following the meeting with the Ministry of Internal Affairs officials, Ms Tanja Rakusic-Hadzic met the newly appointed Deputy Minister of Justice, Oliver Ristovski. The meeting focused on the cooperation between the Council of Europe and the Ministry of Justice with respect to the implementation of the Horizontal Facility Action “Strengthening the Protection of the Rights of Sentenced Persons”, the upcoming legislative changes in the area of execution of criminal sanctions and the establishment of the EOM in the country.

The meetings took place within the scope of the two Actions “Enhancing Human Right Policing” and “Strengthening the Protection of the Rights of Sentenced Persons”, co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe within the “Horizontal Facility for Western Balkans and Turkey”.