BESP project team meets with North Macedonian justice minister Igor Filkov

Members of the ‘Strengthening Enforcement in the Western Balkan Countries’ project team met with the North Macedonian Minister of Justice Igor Filkov and representatives of the country’s Ministry of Justice on 22 October 2024. They discussed topics relating to strengthening the private enforcement systems in the Western Balkans region and beyond. In addition, they looked at the BESP project’s achievements to date and the challenges that lie ahead.

Joining forces to discuss ways of strengthening enforcement

Jos Uitdehaag (project leader), Vesna Delovska (UIHJ First Vice President), Vesna Delovska (President of the Chamber of Private Enforcement Agents of North Macedonia), Zlatislava Mihailoff (Director of the BESP project) and Sergej Zafiroski (independent economic expert) took part in the meeting.

They spoke about matters including improving the mechanisms for monitoring the work of enforcement agents by the ministries of justice in the Western Balkan region, the importance of developing a system of professional standards for enforcement agents and potential ways of strengthening cross-border enforcement, both within the Western Balkan region and internationally. Special attention was paid to the financial analysis of the work of enforcement agents in North Macedonia during the period 2014-2022. The analysis was conducted by an independent economic expert and confirms the need for modifying the Macedonian fee system.

Marking a key milestone achieved under the BESP project

The project members thanked Justice Minister Filkov for his country’s signing of the 2019 Hague Convention for the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Court Decisions. This step was taken under the auspices of the BESP project in cooperation with The Hague Conference on International Private Law. It marks an important milestone in strengthening enforcement in the Western Balkans.

Project promoting effective enforcement and legal cooperation in the Western Balkans

The ‘Strengthening Enforcement in Western Balkan Countries’ project is known as BESP (Balkan Enforcement Structuring) and was launched in September 2020. It is funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and is being implemented by the Center for International Legal Cooperation (CILC). The project focuses on promoting the effective functioning of enforcement agents within the legal systems in Albania, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia, and on enhancing legal cooperation between these legal systems.