The competence of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of North Macedonia is determined exclusively by the Constitution.
Several laws contain provisions requiring certain authorities, in specific situations, to submit an initiative to the Court to initiate proceedings for reviewing the constitutionality or legality of certain acts, however, they do not constitute a source of the Court’s competence. In this direction, for instance, if the contested act does not qualify as a regulation, the Constitutional Court will not accept the initiative, even if its submission resulted from a statutory obligation.
According to the Constitution, the Constitutional Court has the following areas of competence:
Review of constitutionality and legality
Within this jurisdiction, the Constitutional Court determines the conformity of laws with the Constitution, the conformity of collective agreements and other regulations with the Constitution and laws, and the constitutionality of the programs and statutes of political parties and associations of citizens.
The review of the constitutionality and legality of normative acts is conducted as an abstract and a posteriori, meaning it applies only to acts that are already in effect. Preventive review is not provided as a possibility in the Constitution, not even for international agreements. The legal status of international treaties within the legal system, from the perspective of the competence of the Constitutional Court, remains insufficiently clear, and the Court’s practice has predominantly held that international treaties cannot be subject to constitutional review. An exception to the rule that the Court only review valid acts is provided in the Act, allowing the Court to decide on the constitutionality and legality of a normative act that ceased to be in effect after proceedings were initiated to review its constitutionality and legality.
In addition to laws, collective agreements, and the programs and statutes of political parties, which are straightforward to identify, the Court may review various other types of normative acts that regulate specific matters in a general manner (e.g., rules of procedures, decrees, decisions etc. issued by state authorities, local self-government bodies, or organizations exercising public authorities). In such cases, the Court assumes competence even if the act does not conform to the formal requirements of a regulation but evidently governs certain matters in a general manner. Under this jurisdiction, the Court may decide on the constitutionality or legality of an act in its entirety, or on specific parts or provisions, depending on the claims in the initiative and the Court’s own assessment.
Protection of Human and Citizen Freedoms and Rights
According to the Constitution, the Constitutional Court protects the freedoms and rights of individuals and citizens related to freedom of belief, conscience, thought, and public expression of thought, political association and activity, and the prohibition of discrimination based on gender, race, religious, national, social, or political affiliation.
Unlike abstract normative control, the subject of review under this competence includes individual acts and actions of public authorities that a citizen considers to have violated any of the aforementioned constitutional rights. In addition to the directness of the request (constitutional appeal) for the protection of rights violated by an individual act or action, a distinctive feature of this competence is that the subject of challenge may include not only an administrative act, but also a judicial decision at any instance.
Although the introduction of this competence by the Constitution from 1991 marked a significant innovation in the tradition of constitutional adjudication in the Republic of Macedonia, its limitation to only these three groups of freedoms and rights has proven to be a serious obstacle to the Court’s broader involvement in the direct protection of other constitutional freedoms and rights of individuals and citizens.
Resolution of conflict of competence
In exercising this classical competence of constitutional adjudication, the Constitutional Court resolves disputes of competence between the holders of legislative, executive, and judicial powers, as well as disputes of competence between state authorities and local self-government units. Aimed at safeguarding the principle of the separation of powers and the protection of local self-government as fundamental values of the constitutional order of the Republic of North Macedonia, this competence applies equally to both positive and negative conflicts of competence between authorities. In practice, however, such disputes are rarely initiated, but the Court often substantively resolves such conflicts by reviewing the constitutionality of normative acts that assign competence to specific authorities that are not prescribed to them according to the Constitution.
Deciding on the responsibility of the President of the Republic
The Constitutional Court decides on the responsibility of the President of the Republic for violations of the Constitution and laws in the exercise of their rights and duties, based on a proposal by the Assembly of the Republic of North Macedonia. The Assembly adopts the proposal to initiate proceedings with a two-thirds majority vote of the total number of Members of Parliament. If the Constitutional Court determines responsibility with a two-thirds majority of the judges, the term of office of the President is terminated by virtue of the Constitution.
Other competence
The Constitutional Court, ex officio, determines the occurrence of conditions for the termination of the term of office of the President of the Republic. These conditions include death, resignation, permanent incapacity to perform the duties of the office, and termination of the mandate by virtue of the Constitution (for instance, upon the expiry of the term for which the President was elected). This competence is significant not only for enabling the election of a new President but also because the termination of the term of the President activates the provision whereby, until a new President is elected, the duties of the President of the Republic are performed by the President of the Assembly.
Additionally, the Constitutional Court decides on matters related to the immunity of the President of the Republic, as well as the immunity of the judges of the Court.