MEDIATION IN THE REPUBLIC OF NORTH MACEDONIA: MAIN FEATURES AND TRENDS

The right to access to justice in the Republic of North Macedonia traditionally means the right to access to court and judge. Mediation as alternative dispute resolution method is yet to be popularized among the general public and legal practitioners. The main reason why mediation was introduced in the Macedonia`s legal system was to overcome the situation with backlog and pending cases in courts. This paper analyses the present situation of mediation in the Republic of North Macedonia with aim to draw attention on some of the most important features and trends regarding mediation procedure and mediators thus to answer the question: Do these features brought or will bring additional quality to mediation system? The paper provides a brief comparative overview of the laws` provisions concerning mediation procedure and mediators. Namely, the mediation system in the Republic of North Macedonia was introduced in 2006 through the Law on mediation. In 2013 the new Law on mediation was adopted, and in 2021 again, the new Law on mediation was adopted. This approach of bringing new laws eo ipso arises the question: Were these kinds of changes necessity and effective? Mandatory mediation which was introduced in 2015 as a mandatory step for certain types of disputes before the commencement of civil procedure, is one of the most important characteristics of Macedonian mediation system. As a novel the system for licensing of mediators was designed, but the introduction of the licensed mediator resulted in legal solution contrary to the rule lex retro non agit. The National Mediation Council was created as a body for ensuring, following and evaluating the quality of mediation services, and it is closely associated to the Government. The mediation agreement as an executive document, and statute of limitation and preclusion are also among the main futures of the mediation system in the Republic of North Macedonia. At the same time, the paper discusses the consequences these legal solutions produced, the tendency of the legislator and the desired outcomes.