Andrej Božinovski
Andrej Božinovski

Andrej Božinovski was born on October 10, 1988 in Bitola, North Macedonia. He graduated from the Faculty of Law "Iustinianus Primus" of the University "St. Cyril and Methodius ”in Skopje 2012 (with an average of 9.33) on the topic“ European Arrest Warrant ”and acquired the scientific title“ Master of Laws - LL.M ”. From November 2012 to March 2017, he was a trainee at the Criminal Court in Skopje and worked as a legal assistant at the Association of Criminal Law and Criminology of Northern Macedonia. From December 2014 to 2020, as a lecturer at the Department of Criminal Procedure Law, he participated in teaching on the topics: European Arrest Warrant, Extradition and Mutual Assistance in Criminal Cases under the guidance of prof. dr. sc. Gordan Kalajdzhv. He also passed the state bar exam in 2014. Since 2016, he has been working as a Legal Advisor at the Association of Judges of North Macedonia, where he has coordinated major multilateral projects aimed at promoting the reform of the criminal justice system and strengthening the independence, ethics, and transparency of the judiciary.

From 2017 to 2021, as a legal expert, he cooperates with the OSCE Mission to Skopje, the OSCE-ODIHR in Warsaw, DCAF - Geneva Center for Security Sector Governance, and the CEELI Rule of Law Institute in Prague, and provides legal expertise in projects focused on on the protection of human rights, access to justice, an independent judiciary and introducing remote trials. Within the project "Strengthening the Functionality of the Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics in North Macedonia", he provided logistical and legal support in the establishment of the Advisory Council for Judicial Ethics of North Macedonia. In the same project, he co-authored a new Code of Judicial Ethics for Judges and Lay Judges, which was later adopted by the Supreme Court of North Macedonia. As part of the project "Strengthening the Transparency of Macedonian Judiciary through the Functionality of the Judicial-Media Council", he provided a methodology for establishing the first Judicial Media Council in the country - a platform for dialogue between judges and journalists. In co-operation with the OPDAT department of the US Embassy in Skopje, ​​he coordinated a judicial mentoring program for Macedonian and US judges. He was selected by the US State Department to participate in the IVLP (International Visitor Leadership Program) program for young leaders and was invited to a three-week training on "Foreign Policy and Human Rights" in Washington DC, USA. Since 2021, in cooperation with the Croatian Academy of Legal Sciences and the US Embassy in Zagreb Croatia, as an Assistant Project Coordinator, he has been helping to implement the project "Protection, Assistance, and Social Inclusion Measures to Vulnerable Groups in the Context of Human Trafficking".

From 2015 to 2019, he was a member of the Working Committee, under the auspices of the OSCE Mission to Skopje and the Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts, to revise the Criminal Code on the Prosecution of Hate Crimes; member of the Working Committee for the Development of a Guide to the Implementation of the Code of Ethics for Judges and Jurors of North Macedonia at the OSCE Mission to Skopje. He was also a member of the Working Group at the Ministry of Justice of Northern Macedonia for the implementation of GRECO's recommendations for the prevention of corruption in the judiciary of North Macedonia.
He has recently been active in assessing the possibility of introducing innocence projects in the countries of the Western Balkans. In January 2021, he participated in the research workshop "The use of molecular genetic analysis in criminal proceedings: national legal framework and European standards" organized by the Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb. In 2018, at the invitation of the Faculty of Law, University of Barcelona, ​​he participated in the conference of the European Innocence Network, where he had a presentation on the possibility of conducting additional DNA expertise through the introduction of an innocence project in North Macedonia, as part of reformed criminal proceedings.

He is the co-author of seven monographs, author or co-author of a number of papers, of which at least four papers are scientific papers published in internationally recognized journals and publications with an internationally recognized review. He often gives public speeches or gives statements in audiovisual and print media in the Republic of North Macedonia and abroad on the topics of criminal law, criminology, and human rights protection. Topics of public appearances: rule of law, judicial independence, and transparency combating corruption in the judiciary, international criminal law and extradition, pardon, and amnesty law.

More

Education

Graduation year: 2010

mr.sc. graduation year: 2012

Contact

E-mail:
E-mail
Public phone number:
+385 (0)1 4564 317
Address:
Gundulićeva 10, soba 12/1
Department:
Criminal Law

Professional memberships

(1) Member of the Expert Commission for the Training of Judges and Prosecutors on the Right to Privacy in Special Investigative Measures, DCAF- Geneva Center for Security Sector Management, Academy for the Training of Judges and Prosecutors “Pavel Šatev” Skopje.

(2) Member of the Judicial Core Group Network for the Development of Best Practices in Remote Trial and Data Protection in Europe, CEELI Rule of Law Institute - Prague, Czech Republic.

(3) Member of the U.S. Department of State, International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) Program, Alumni.

(4) Member of the Macedonian - American Alumni Association.

(5) Coordinator of the Course "Crime Prevention through Criminal Law and Security Sciences", Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb.

(6) Member of the Editorial board of the e-Proceedings, Macedonian Political Science Forum.

(7) Member of the Expert Commission for the Development of the Guide for the Implementation of the Code of Ethics for Judges and Jurors of Northern Macedonia. OSCE Mission to Skopje.

(8) Member of the working committee for drafting the Code of Ethics for Judges and Jurors of Northern Macedonia. Association of Judges of Northern Macedonia.

(9) Member of the working group for the implementation of GRECO recommendations for the prevention of corruption in the judiciary, Ministry of Justice of Northern Macedonia.

(10) Member of the Expert Committee for the Development of the “Guide for the Implementation of Measures to Intercept Communications”, DCAF- Geneva Center for Security Sector Management.

(11) Member of the Working Group on Regional Networking of Judges' Associations, under the auspices of the OSCE Mission to Skopje.

(12) Member of the working Committee for the Revision of the Criminal Code on Hate Crimes Prosecution, Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts, OSCE Mission to Skopje.


List of select projects

Provided legal consultation strategic management in aiding the reform process of the criminal justice system and fostering judicial independence, ethics, and transparency in North Macedonia and the Western Balkans. Worked with: Department of State - INL-Bureau of International Narcotics and Law-enforcement Affairs, U.S. Embassy in Skopje, North Macedonia, U.S. Embassy in Zagreb, Croatia CEELI Institute for Advancing the Rule of Law, DCAF - Geneva Center for Security Sector Governance, OSCE Mission to Skopje, and ODIHR - Warsaw. Most notable project areČ

(1) “Measures for the Protection, Assistance and Social Inclusion of Vulnerable Groups in the Context of Trafficking in Human Beings in Croatia”, implemented by the Croatian Academy of Legal Sciences in cooperation with the Public Affairs Office, US Embassy in Zagreb.

(2) "Increasing Transparency in the Judiciary by Strengthening the Role of the Judicial Media Council", conducted by the Association of Judges of North Macedonia in cooperation with the INL and OPDAT Departments, US Embassy Skopje.

(3) "Strengthening the Role and Independence of Judges in North Macedonia", conducted with the INL Department, the US Embassy Skopje, and the Association of Judges of North Macedonia.

(4): "Exchange of Skills and Good Practices between Macedonian and American Judges", conducted in cooperation with the INL Department, the US Embassy Skopje, and Macedonian-American Alumni Association.

(5) "Establishment of the Functionality of the Macedonian Judicial Ethics Committee", carried out by the Association of Judges of North Macedonia in cooperation with the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Skopje - MATRA Rule of Law Program.

(6) "Manual on the interception of communications conducted through a special investigation" conducted by the Association of Judges of North Macedonia in cooperation with the Geneva Center for Security Sector Governance (DCAF).

(7) "Establishment of a Regional Network of Judges' Associations", carried out by the Association of Judges of North Macedonia in co-operation with the OSCE Mission to Skopje.

(8) "Respect for the principle of the presumption of innocence in criminal proceedings - in dubio pro reo", carried out by the Association of Criminal Law and Criminology of North Macedonia, in co-operation with the OSCE Mission to Skopje.

(9) "Analysis of the Criminal Policy of Courts in the Republic of Macedonia", conducted by the Association of Criminal Law and Criminology of Northern Macedonia in cooperation with the OSCE Mission to Skopje.

(10) "Illegal Interception of Communications in Macedonia by the Poison Fruit Doctrine", conducted by the Association of Criminal Law and Criminology of North Macedonia in cooperation with the US Embassy in Skopje and the Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts.

(11) "Strengthening the Rights of the Defense in Criminal Proceedings", conducted by the Association of Criminal Law and Criminology of North Macedonia in cooperation with the INL Department, US Embassy in Skopje.