The 4th meeting of the National Co-ordination Body for the Free Legal Aid in North Macedonia gathered virtually to discuss important matters surrounding an efficient implementation of the Free Legal Aid Services for the citizens of North Macedonia.
About 30 participants from key institutions in the field of free legal aid such as the Ministry of Justice and its Regional Offices (ROs), Bar Association, civil society organisations (CSOs) and Legal Clinics authorised to provide free legal aid, had the opportunity to discuss important topics related to the implementation of the free legal aid system. The meeting was addressed by a representative from the Bureau for forensic expertise who discussed the challenges in the implementation of the Law on Free Legal Aid concerning the exemption from the costs of expertise.
Other important issues tackled referred to raising awareness of the citizens, the new informative bulletin for FLA, the Referral Protocol and Directory of organisations and institutions. The importance for an effective referral system that contributes towards improving the access to justice was highlighted during this meeting.
The National Co-ordination Body for implementation of the Law on Free Legal Aid (NCB) will continue its work and commitment towards achieving better co-ordination and communication among the main actors in the Free Legal Aid system.
The Free Legal Aid (FLA) campaign was also discussed, and the participants highlighted their support for the campaign and their commitment towards achieving bigger success in reaching especially the most vulnerable groups in the country. The new FLA website and visual identity have been presented, and the future activities of the campaign were discussed.
The idea of introducing a Bulletin on free legal aid has been presented and also discussed at this meeting. The participants accepted the idea for issuing a Bulletin, highlighting that it represents a very useful and informative tool about the novelties related with the FLA system in North Macedonia.
At the end of the meeting, the need and benefits of conducting a research on citizens’ legal needs was explained and also discussed among the participants.
The meeting has been organised by the action “Supporting enhanced access to higher quality Free Legal Aid services in North Macedonia” which is part of the joint European Union/Council of Europe programme “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey 2019-2022”.