Constitution of the Republic of Macedonia contains following provision providing the freedom of assembly:
Article 21
Citizens have the right to assemble peacefully and to express public protest without prior announcement or a special license.
The exercise of this right may be restricted only during a state of emergency or war.
4. Freedom of assembly is further regulated in the Law on public assemblies, published in Official Gazette no.55/95 from 13th November 1995.
5. In Republic of Macedonia there is no secondary legislation working out freedom of assembly in more details.
6. Freedom of assembly can be restricted or suspended only in cases determined by Constitution and law. Constitution of the Republic of Macedonia in article 21 provides that freedom of assembly can be restricted only during a state of emergency or war. Law on public assemblies, article 6, provides that "Ministry of internal affairs will interrupt the public assemblies in cases when it is guided to:
- threatening life, health, security, personal security and ownership;
- committing or stimulating crimes determined in law;
- environmental pollution.
Ministry of internal affairs will interrupt the public assemblies in cases when its maintenance is in collision with International agreements for unimpeded flow of traffic."
According to the Law on public assemblies "public assembly is every gathering held on open or closed space, because of entertaining, cultural, religious, humanitarian, social, political, economic, sports, or other interests of the citizens, organized for public expression of opinion or protest."
There are no quantitative requirements in Macedonian law with regard to organizers, nor to participants in the assembly. The number of participants is not limited, nor there is minimum number of participants that have to be present in order the assembly to be held.
Law on public assemblies does not provide for any requirements with regard to children. The same Law provides that foreign citizens can organize public assembly only if Ministry of internal affairs is notified and it has approved the assembly. If we consider the fact that stateless persons in Republic of Macedonia have the same status as foreign persons, this provision refers to them as well.
According to the Law on public assemblies there are no limitations excluding certain places, which means that the freedom of assembly regard to place is not limited.
Law on public assemblies provides for certain rights and duties of organizers and participants, such as:
Article 4: "...organizer of the public assembly has the duty to provide the maintenance of the public order on the assembly and to organize service for maintenance." The same article provides that the organizer is obliged to interrupt the assembly if there is any kind of danger for life and health of the people, their personal security and ownership. Moreover, the organizer is responsible for compensating the damages made on the assembly.
Article 5 of the same law provides obligation for the participants in the assembly, which is not to carry arms.
Spontaneous demonstrations are not forbidden with the Law on public assemblies, which would mean that they are allowed. Besides the obligations provided in article 4 of the Law on public assemblies, there are no further requirements to be met by organizers before the start of the assembly.
According to Law on public assemblies, notification may be done, but is not necessary. Article 2 paragraph 3 provides that because of the security, the organizer may notify the Ministry of internal affairs for the measures taken for maintaining the public order of the assembly. The law does not contain any provisions for the procedure of notification, nor time limits for such a procedure.
Because there is no necessity of notifying the Ministry of internal affairs about the assembly, the presumption stands that no authorization is needed.
Law on public assemblies does not provide for application to hold an assembly. Therefore, there are no provisions for refusing the application or justifying such a decision.
Law on public assemblies contains penal provisions which provide following:
Article 9: "Organizer (legal person) of the assembly will be charged with penalty of 4 to 20 salaries for the contravention if:
- does not take measures for maintenance of the public order;
- does not notify the Ministry of internal affairs and does not interrupt the assembly if there is any kind of danger for life and health of the people, their personal security and ownership.
Responsible person within the organizer (the organizer is legal person) will be charged with penalty of 1 to 2 and half salaries for the same contraventions."
Article 10: "Person will be charged with penalty of 1/5 to 1/2 salary, or with 30 days prison for the contravention if:
- organizer does not take measures for maintenance of the public order;
- organizer does not notify the Ministry of internal affairs and does not interrupt the assembly if there is any kind of danger for life and health of the people, their personal security and ownership;
- participant carries arms on the public assembly.
Foreign person will be charged with protective measure - taking him away from the territory of the Republic Macedonia in duration of 6 months to 2 years, for the same contraventions."
Law on public assemblies does not contain any provisions providing the role and duty of police ensuring public order during an assembly, except for article 6, which is quoted in the answer of the question no.6.
Law on public assemblies does not contain any provisions providing the limits of use of power or responsibility of a police officer. These questions are regulated in appropriate laws and secondary regulation referring to the role and duty of police. Furthermore, the Law on public assemblies does not contain provisions for investigating deaths or injuries that may occur, which are contained in the Penal code and are subject of due process of law.
The analysis is based on information provided by the Permanent Mission of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to OSCE.
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