Thursday 15 and Friday 16 November CILC organized a two day seminar in Skopje on the importance of case-law in the European Union. Judges and Justices of various Macedonian courts and representatives of the Macedonian Ministry of Justice were trained in a working seminar by CILC experts Marc Fierstra – Justice of the Dutch Supreme Court – and Ruud Winter – coordinating Vice-President of the Dutch Administrative High Court for Trade and Industry. Dutch Ambassador Marriët Schuurman opened the high level international event that was staged at the Macedonian Academy for Judges and Public Prosecutors.
The evolution of European cooperation, the development and impact of EU Law and the role and procedures of the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) were high on the agenda. All elements were presented through the prism of case-law, underlining that the legal order of the European Union can be understood only by referring to and studying ECJ-cases. The second part of the seminar was devoted to knowledge management of EU law. CILC’s experts highlighted the relevance of accessibility of EU law information, education and the use of a coordinating network. In emphasizing the relevance of working with case-law, in presenting the prospects of European judicial training, and in introducing possibilities for future cooperation, CILC and its experts hope to be a source of inspiration for the Macedonian colleagues.
This training seminar is part of the broader Macedonia Jurisprudence Project that is funded by the social transformation program MATRA of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Next to raising awareness on the importance of domestic and international case-law this 3-year project also aims at increasing the access to case-law and enhancing its use.
CILC experts Winter (second on the left) and Fierstra (second on the right) with Ambassador Schuurman (third on the left) and Academy Director Arnaudovska at the EU Law seminar in Skopje.