Artim Islami, a law graduate with a passed bar exam from Struga and Feuzi Xhaferi, a law graduate with a bar exam pass from the Gostivar village of Chaile, are the candidates that the parliamentary Commission on Elections and Appointments proposed today for a new member of the Judicial Council elected by the Assembly.
The President of the Commission for Elections and Appointments, Gjorgija Sajkoski, informed that 10 candidates were registered for the competition, of which, during the inspection, the members of the Selection Commission found that three candidates did not meet the requirements for being a member of the Judicial Council, and with the seven candidates who met the requirements, a public hearing was held for their representation.
– On April 22, 2026, the President of the Assembly published an announcement for the election of a member of the Judicial Council of the Republic of North Macedonia, which is elected by the Assembly and which was published on April 23, 2026. The deadline for registering candidates for the announcement lasted 15 days from the day of publication in the Official Gazette. The Commission for Elections and Appointments within 10 days of the publication of the announcement established a working group for the preliminary selection of candidates for Council members. The working group was formed by Diturije Elezi Neziri, a representative from the Association of Judges, Flora Ilkoska, a representative from the Bar Association, Jelena Kadric, a representative of the Association or the Foundation appointed by the Council for Cooperation between the Government and the Civil Sector in the area of justice, rule of law and human rights, and MPs in the Assembly, Aleksandar Veljanovski and Sanja Lukarevska – said Sajkoski.
The commission held a public presentation hearing with the candidates who met the requirements: Shpresa Dauti, a law graduate with a passed bar exam from Tetovo, Elvir Iseini, a law graduate with a bar exam pass from the Tetovo village of Bogovinje, Sabedin Dauti, a law graduate with a bar exam pass from the Gostivar village of Raven, Fadil Jelili, a law graduate with a bar exam pass from the Gostivar village of Cegrane and Fatmir Emrulau, a law graduate with a passed bar exam from Kicevo.
MP of VREDI, Bekim Qoku proposed the two candidates. It emphasizes that Artim Islami has great professional preparation and experience in law and who has been working as a lawyer for more than two decades. Regarding Feuzi Xhaferi, Qoku emphasized that the candidate has extensive experience in law, was hired as a lawyer and worked as a chief of staff at the Minister of Education and Science.
SDSM MP Sanja Lukarevska asked Qoku to remind the members of the Commission what his proposals were last time when a member for the Judicial Council was being elected. To this, Qoku first replied that he could not remember the names of the candidates and pointed out that at that moment they thought they were more important candidates, but it turned out that those candidates, according to later data, were not the best for this position. Qoku emphasized that she had doubts last time that the government was proposing members who are party activists. He emphasized that neither the first nor the second time proposed candidates for this position were party activists.
He emphasized that this government is doing everything not to color the legal system as the previous government did in the past.
The MP of the Alliance for Albanians, Riyad Shaqiri, said that the very fact that one of the proposed members was the chief of staff of a minister means that it is part of politics.
The vacancy comes after the end of the second term last year in December of the member of the Judicial Council, Selim Ademi. This place is reserved for the members of the communities that are over 20 percent. The criteria in the announcement were that the candidates should be university professors of law, lawyers, former judges of the Constitutional Court, of international courts and other distinguished jurists. Current judges or prosecutors, as well as persons who have been dismissed from their positions, cannot apply for this position, reported MIA.
