CONTINUING LEGAL EDUCATION OF JUDGES AND PUBLIC PROSECUTORS

THE CASE OF THE REPUBLIC OF NORTH MACEDONIA AND ITS ALIGNMENT WITH THE EUROPEAN STANDARDS

Abstract

Certain legal professions, by their very nature, require continuing legal education even after the completion of formal legal studies, particularly the professions of judge and public prosecutor. In the Republic of North Macedonia, the path toward these professions includes acquiring practical experience after graduation, passing the bar exam, admission to the Academy for Judges and Public Prosecutors, completing theoretical and practical training, passing a final examination, and appointment to judicial or prosecutorial office. National legislation has so far recognized two training models: a unified training model for both professions and a model of early specialization, in which candidates choose one of the two career paths at the application stage. The latter approach is also reflected in the new draft Law on the Academy for Judges and Public Prosecutors. Continuous professional development for appointed judges and public prosecutors constitutes a legal obligation, further regulated through by-laws, while failure to attend mandatory training sessions may result in disciplinary liability. The paper analyses the system of continuing legal education in North Macedonia in terms of its structure, objectives, and qualification frameworks, while also presenting the results of empirical research on the attitudes, experiences, and needs of judges and public prosecutors regarding lifelong learning and professional development. Furthermore, the paper provides a comparative analysis of successful European models of continuing judicial training and offers a critical evaluation of the national system considering contemporary international standards and principles for judicial education, particularly those developed by the Council of Europe and the European Justice Training Network (EJTN). Special attention is also devoted to assessing the alignment of national higher education with the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESG), through a critical re-examination of the role of higher education institutions in supporting continuing legal education. In this context, the authors propose specific recommendations aimed at improving the concept of continuing legal education and strengthening the role of higher education institutions in this field.