National Co-ordination Body for the implementation of the Law on Free Legal Aid has been established in Skopje with the support of the Action on “Supporting enhanced access to higher quality Free Legal Aid services in North Macedonia” in January 2020. This newly established body will improve the communication and collaboration among the Ministry of Justice, Bar Association, civil society organisations (CSOs), Legal Clinics and other institutions involved in the provision of free legal aid by sharing information, co-ordinating individual cases and timely collecting the data necessary for processing legal aid applications. This will ensure better access to justice for the citizens through better institutional co-ordination.

The National Co-ordination Body will hold quarterly meetings. Core members include the Ministry of Justice, the Bar Association and authorised CSO’s and legal clinics. Other institutions working with Free Legal Aid beneficiaries such as the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, Centre for Social Affairs – Skopje, Ombudsman, Public Revenue Office, the Land Registration Agency (Cadastre), Basic Civil Court Skopje; Chamber of Notaries, Chamber of Enforcement Agents, Ministry of Interior, Pension and disability insurance fund, Health insurance fund, Central Registry etc. are also part of the body. The Ministry of Justice, the Bar association and a representative of the authorised associations and legal clinics will co-chair the body.

The European Union and the Council of Europe will also facilitate several subsequent meetings of this body under this Action. This will increase the capacities of this body to become entirely self-sustainable in the future beyond the end of the joint EU/CoE project.

The Action on “Supporting enhanced access to higher quality Free Legal Aid services in North Macedonia” is part of the “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey II”, a joint EU/CoE programme implemented by the Council of Europe.