The challenges of environmental protection in the Republic of North Macedonia

Dealing with climate change and environmental issues must begin with the acceptance of the position that the environmental crisis is equivalent to the economic, political, or health crisis, which is typically the focus of our political and legal apparatus. It has such a broad scope that it...

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Main Authors: Lažetić Gordana, Mujoska-Trpevska Elena
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Victimology Society of Serbia and University of Belgrade, Faculty of Special Education and Rehabilitation 2022-01-01
Series:Temida
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.doiserbia.nb.rs/img/doi/1450-6637/2022/1450-66372203283L.pdf
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author Lažetić Gordana
Mujoska-Trpevska Elena
author_facet Lažetić Gordana
Mujoska-Trpevska Elena
author_sort Lažetić Gordana
collection DOAJ
description Dealing with climate change and environmental issues must begin with the acceptance of the position that the environmental crisis is equivalent to the economic, political, or health crisis, which is typically the focus of our political and legal apparatus. It has such a broad scope that it exceeds the level of the individual right to a healthy environment and cannot be measured solely through the lens of concretely determined cases of violation. Its visible consequences cannot be justified by achieving some higher economic, social, or other goals, such as, first and foremost, economic benefits from accelerated economic development at the expense of reckless environmental destruction. Numerous laws and regulations in the Republic of North Macedonia cover almost every aspect of the environment. However, some of them are considered outdated and unsuitable for the country’s current situation. Another perceived weakness of the environmental legal framework is the lack of implementation as a result of the institutional division of state authorities responsible for enforcement and insufficient personnel and technical resources in local administration and inspection services. It is encouraging that the entire environmental legislation is being revised and perceived flaws are being addressed. Despite the beginning of the process of enacting new or amending existing laws for specific areas of environmental protection, many open questions remain in key areas as well as strategic goals and policies. This paper begins with an overview of the most important international standards as well as an introduction to green victimology specifics. Then the level of developed environmental awareness in the Republic North Macedonia is assessed through statistical data analysis. The authors specifically mention ecocide as a separate offence in the Criminal Code, among other novelties. The last part of the article is dealing with dilemmas regarding judicial protection of the right to protection of the environment, using examples from Macedonian judicial practice, they discuss the difficulties in judicially protecting the right to a healthy environment.
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spelling doaj-art-e74e5f9941e84add8a64502cf0a332ad2025-08-20T03:19:08ZengVictimology Society of Serbia and University of Belgrade, Faculty of Special Education and RehabilitationTemida1450-66372406-09412022-01-0125328330810.2298/TEM2203283L1450-66372203283LThe challenges of environmental protection in the Republic of North MacedoniaLažetić Gordana0Mujoska-Trpevska Elena1Faculty of Law “Iustinianus Primus” Skoplje, Saint Cyril and Methodius University, Republic of North MacedoniaCentre for Strategic Research in the Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Skoplje, Republic of North MacedoniaDealing with climate change and environmental issues must begin with the acceptance of the position that the environmental crisis is equivalent to the economic, political, or health crisis, which is typically the focus of our political and legal apparatus. It has such a broad scope that it exceeds the level of the individual right to a healthy environment and cannot be measured solely through the lens of concretely determined cases of violation. Its visible consequences cannot be justified by achieving some higher economic, social, or other goals, such as, first and foremost, economic benefits from accelerated economic development at the expense of reckless environmental destruction. Numerous laws and regulations in the Republic of North Macedonia cover almost every aspect of the environment. However, some of them are considered outdated and unsuitable for the country’s current situation. Another perceived weakness of the environmental legal framework is the lack of implementation as a result of the institutional division of state authorities responsible for enforcement and insufficient personnel and technical resources in local administration and inspection services. It is encouraging that the entire environmental legislation is being revised and perceived flaws are being addressed. Despite the beginning of the process of enacting new or amending existing laws for specific areas of environmental protection, many open questions remain in key areas as well as strategic goals and policies. This paper begins with an overview of the most important international standards as well as an introduction to green victimology specifics. Then the level of developed environmental awareness in the Republic North Macedonia is assessed through statistical data analysis. The authors specifically mention ecocide as a separate offence in the Criminal Code, among other novelties. The last part of the article is dealing with dilemmas regarding judicial protection of the right to protection of the environment, using examples from Macedonian judicial practice, they discuss the difficulties in judicially protecting the right to a healthy environment.http://www.doiserbia.nb.rs/img/doi/1450-6637/2022/1450-66372203283L.pdfenvironmental crimeenvironmentgreen victimologyecociderepublic of north macedonia
spellingShingle Lažetić Gordana
Mujoska-Trpevska Elena
The challenges of environmental protection in the Republic of North Macedonia
Temida
environmental crime
environment
green victimology
ecocide
republic of north macedonia
title The challenges of environmental protection in the Republic of North Macedonia
title_full The challenges of environmental protection in the Republic of North Macedonia
title_fullStr The challenges of environmental protection in the Republic of North Macedonia
title_full_unstemmed The challenges of environmental protection in the Republic of North Macedonia
title_short The challenges of environmental protection in the Republic of North Macedonia
title_sort challenges of environmental protection in the republic of north macedonia
topic environmental crime
environment
green victimology
ecocide
republic of north macedonia
url http://www.doiserbia.nb.rs/img/doi/1450-6637/2022/1450-66372203283L.pdf
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