Back in Skopje, after a few weeks off from interviews, but working on writing the blog post you have been (enjoying) reading, I meet with All 4 Fair Trials. They are located in Skopje, right in the heart of downtown.
They were founded in 2003 as a coalition of NGOs across the country to fight corruption simply by observing and reporting. Their main activity is to monitor the courts, and see how well they follow procedure in prosecuting cases. They focus on the corruption in courts. As part of this observation, they have a sub focus on journalistic cases that focus on defamation and libel. They also have some other smaller projects.
At their own offices, there are currently 10 people who mostly have a law background. One has a sociological background, as well as a webmaster. The Coalition also has an executive board of 7 people.
Their funding mostly comes through foreign donations. (The US Embassy is the most stable funding source). They get some money from the MK government, but it was only for the trafficking case. It was the small (their word) amount of $7,000.
When asked if they work with the government, they stated that they do not work closely, due to their monitoring procedures. If they do work with some form of government, it is usually with judges or prosecutors who are active in the courtroom. They organize workshops for the people involved in court cases (not those being prosecuted.) They invite experts to lecture about international experience related to the law.
Since I do not know anything about the corruption or how bad it is in Macedonia, I asked them about corruption. They stated that after ethnic problems, corruption is the main problem. Especially for democracy, because corruption is deeply routed in all aspects of MK life. They gave examples of the emergency room, court, education, or university. All 4 Fair Trials follows all cases with a high level of possibility of corruption. They try to see how correctly the laws are followed.
They have 55 people who monitor cases on a voluntary basis. There is a questionnaire so that the monitoring is similar all across the country. They follow cases from day one in court to the final judgement. They specifically follow the case: what do the lawyers say? What are the other’s reactions? There are 75 questions to work with. They will then analyze the data and produce a report about the cases. They are currently producing a report on last year.
They (along with a lot of other NGOs) have given me some materials to read. If I have time (and I really hope I have time) I want to read these materials and analyze them for you all/myself.
They were founded in 2003 as a coalition of NGOs across the country to fight corruption simply by observing and reporting. Their main activity is to monitor the courts, and see how well they follow procedure in prosecuting cases. They focus on the corruption in courts. As part of this observation, they have a sub focus on journalistic cases that focus on defamation and libel. They also have some other smaller projects.
At their own offices, there are currently 10 people who mostly have a law background. One has a sociological background, as well as a webmaster. The Coalition also has an executive board of 7 people.
Their funding mostly comes through foreign donations. (The US Embassy is the most stable funding source). They get some money from the MK government, but it was only for the trafficking case. It was the small (their word) amount of $7,000.
When asked if they work with the government, they stated that they do not work closely, due to their monitoring procedures. If they do work with some form of government, it is usually with judges or prosecutors who are active in the courtroom. They organize workshops for the people involved in court cases (not those being prosecuted.) They invite experts to lecture about international experience related to the law.
Since I do not know anything about the corruption or how bad it is in Macedonia, I asked them about corruption. They stated that after ethnic problems, corruption is the main problem. Especially for democracy, because corruption is deeply routed in all aspects of MK life. They gave examples of the emergency room, court, education, or university. All 4 Fair Trials follows all cases with a high level of possibility of corruption. They try to see how correctly the laws are followed.
They have 55 people who monitor cases on a voluntary basis. There is a questionnaire so that the monitoring is similar all across the country. They follow cases from day one in court to the final judgement. They specifically follow the case: what do the lawyers say? What are the other’s reactions? There are 75 questions to work with. They will then analyze the data and produce a report about the cases. They are currently producing a report on last year.
They (along with a lot of other NGOs) have given me some materials to read. If I have time (and I really hope I have time) I want to read these materials and analyze them for you all/myself.
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