DIRECTOR
Natasha-Gaber
Gaber-Damjanovska Natasha
Director
…Non quia difficilia sunt non audemus, sed quia non audemus difficilia sunt.

 

…It is not because they are difficult that we do not dare, but because we do not dare, they are difficult.

Date of birth
09-10-1962
Education
  • 2022 – Annual regional forum on the rule of law, “Human rights in state of emergency – role of the judiciary from the aspect of the ECHR”, The AIRE Centre & Civil Rights Defenders, 25-26 November, Tirana;
  • 2022 – Certificate for completed HELP course on the module “Ethics for judges and prosecutors”, October;
  • 2022 – Complete course for training the trainers on “Acquis Communautaire”, AJPP in cooperation with the Dutch Judicial Academy, October;
  • 2022 – Congress to mark the occasion of the 30th anniversary of EPA and the conference “European Sovereignty: The Legal Dimension – The Union controls its own destiny” October 13-14;
  • 2022 – Regional cooperation for anti-discrimination, conference “Challenges in adjudicating cases of discrimination – sanctions and indemnification”, Skopje October 6, OSCE
  • 2022 – EJTN Directors Conference, “Novelties in education relevant to EJTN training institutions“, practical information; Prague, 28-29 September;
  • 2022 – Sixth Regional Conference of Equality Bodies from SEE, September 6, Assembly of the Republic of North Macedonia, in cooperation with the OSCE;
  • 2022 – Study visit to the Mediators Federation Netherlands and the Dutch Judicial Academy SSR, as the final phase of the project “Mediate, do not hesitate” in cooperation with AJPP and EPI, supported by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in RNM, June 27-28;
  • 2022 – Participation at the conference Gender equality and the Western Balkans, Judicial forum, AIRE Center, April, Becici, Montenegro;
  • 2022 – Certificate for participation in the international training program “Contemporary topics on human rights”, Judicial Academy of the Republic of Turkey, Antalya, May 23-26;
  • 2022 – Online conference “Breaking the barriers” – strengthening the procedural rights of EU Directives through transnational participation in judicial trainings, National School of the Judiciary of Greece, CECL, LBI, Federal Ministry of Austria, February 2022;
  • 2022 – Participation at the conference “Initial training for judiciary professionals in the function of the rule of law” February 22-23, ENM, Bordeaux;
  • 2022 – Online training “Criminal prosecution of crimes against the environment: air pollution”, January 2022, OPDAT program, US Embassy, AJPP;
  • 2021 – Certificate for participation at the AMBITUS international seminar on the protection of the human environment “Fight against crime directed at the human environment (trade in waste and endangered animal species)”, ENM, Paris, November 3-5;
  • 2021 – Certificate for participation at the online course “Organization of a Judicial Training Institution” 5-9 July, ENM France;
  • 2021 – ToT Training, OPDAT, USA, June;
  • 2021 – Certificate for participation for virtual study visit for Western Balkans Judicial Training Institutions to the SSR Institute, the Netherlands: “Managing Judicial e-Learning”, 23-24 June, program for “Cooperation of the Western Balkans’ Judicial Training Institutions”, GIZ in partnership with SSR;
  • 2021 – Participation at the event “Effective Confiscation of Property Acquired through Crime: Legal Standards, Challenges and Good Practices” – organized by the AIRE Center and the Regional Anti-Corruption Initiative (RAI) with support from the Government of the United Kingdom, 09 February;
  • 2021 – Participation at the EIPA Luxembourg Online Annual Conference – Webinar, 09 February;
  • 2021 – Certificate for completed HELP course in Justice for Children;
  • 2021 – Workshop on the Development of Initial and Continuing Training of Judges and Prosecutors, Turkish Judicial Academy (online), November;
  • 2020 – “Recent Trends in the Case Law of the Court of Justice of the EU”, Annual Conference, 3 and 4 December 2020, EIPA Luxembourg Online Annual Conference;
  • 2020 – Conference “Shared Responsibility in Implementing the European Convention on Human Rights: Addressing Challenges with (new) judicial Tools” 24-25 October, Sarajevo, Initiative for Legal Certainty in the Western Balkans EU, CoE, Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs;
  • 2020 – Annual Regional Rule of Law Forum for South East Europe, Civil Rights Defenders, The AIRE Centre, 16-17 October Seventh Regional Forum on the Rule of Law in South East Europe “Covid 19 and the ECHR”;
  • 2020 – Certificate for Right to a Fair Trial (Art.6 ECHR)- Recent ECtHR Case Law, ERA Academy of European Law, Online Seminar, June 4-5;
  • 2020 – Certificate for completed HELP course in Bioethics;
  • 2019 – Certificate of Participation on “Regional Workshop for South-Eastern Europe on Foreign Terrorist Fighters’ Cases; Manual for Judicial Training Institutes” Vienna 16-18 December, UN Office on Drugs and Crime, presentation on “Curricula Development with regard to FTFs”;
  • 2019 – Study visit “Development of Leadership and Management Capacity of the Court Presidents and Chiefs Prosecutors. Improving Team Efficiency” Luxembourg 22 October – EIPA European Institute of Public Administration, European Centre for Judges and Lawyers;
  • 2019 – HELP Training Certificate (ToT), Council of Europe Programme for Human Rights Education for Legal Professionals, , 02-03 October;
  • 2019 – EJTN The rule of law in Europe, conference “Perspectives, needs and challenges for the European judiciary”, European Court of Justice, May 13-14;
  • 2019 – Training of Trainers (ToT), Delivery of the Introductory Training Module on Cybercrime, Electronic Evidence and Online Crime Proceeds, Skopje, 2-6 April, Cybercrime Programme Office of the Council of Europe, EU and the Council of Europe ;
  • 2019 – Final Conference of the Program “Strengthening the Judicial Expertise on Freedom of Expression and Media in Southeast Europe (JUFREX)” April, Sarajevo, Council of Europe/ European Union;
  • 2019 – Sixth Annual Regional Conference on the Rule of Law in SEE, March 21-23, Dubrovnik, the AIRE Center Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, Civil Rights defenders, Foreign & Commonwealth Office, Sweden;
  • 2019 – Training within the framework of the Council of Europe/European Union horizontal program against organized crime, “Trial simulation: Investigation, prosecution and trial of corruption cases, money laundering and financial crime”, Strasbourg, Council of Europe
  • 2016 – Study visit of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Macedonia to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg
  • 2015-2017 – A series of trainings on the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg organized in the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Macedonia
  • 2001 – “Creating legal principles for civil society organizations”, seminar for Macedonian judges and lawyers, Czech Republic and USA, USAID/ICNL
  • 1999 – Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Political Science, Kokalis Program on International Leadership and Economic Development
  • 1998 – World Bank, Robert McNamara Scholarship, 1998 “Non-governmental organizations as a source of great potential in further social development”, Robert McNamara Scholarship Program 1997/1998
  • 1997 – USA study visit “Legal rules and principles for the taxation of civil organizations”, USAID
  • 1996 – Salzburg Seminar Session 336 “The Process of the American Presidential Elections”
  • 1995 – René Cassen International Institute for Human Rights, Certificate of Participation at the 26th Session, Strasbourg July 1995 and Certificate of Participation at the International Center for University Education in Human Rights, 23rd Session, Strasbourg
  • 1995 – Institute for Sociological and Political-Legal Research, St. Cyril and Methodius University – Skopje, doctorate in political science
  • 1994 – USA study visit, “Legal regulation of the status of civil organizations” USAID
  • 1993 – European University Institute, Summer Course in European Law, Florence, Italy 1993
  • 1993 – British Council/Chevening Fellowship, School of Political Science, University of Essex, Colchester, United Kingdom, academic year 1993/94
  • 1990 – Justinian I Faculty of Law, St. Cyril and Methodius University – Skopje, Master’s Degree in Legal and Political Sciences
  • 1984 – Justinian I Faculty of Law, St. Cyril and Methodius University – Skopje, graduated in law
Languages

Macedonian, English, French, Greek, Italian, German, Serbian, Croatian, Bulgarian.

Previous work experience
  • 01.04.1985 – 7.10.2008 – The Institute for Sociological and Political-Legal Research Skopje, “St. Cyril and Methodius” University as a junior assistant up to full professor and academic advisor
  • 07.10.2008 – 07.10.2017 – performing the function of judge of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Macedonia
  • 08.10.2017 – 01.12.2018 – employed at the Institute for Sociological and Political-Legal Research as a full-time professor and scientific advisor, and from 23.01.2018-28.09.2018 and as director of the Institute
  • From 01.10.2018 until today, director of the Academy for Judges and Public Prosecutors “Pavel Shatev” Skopje
Relevant professional activities

Description of judicial activities

  • Fulfilling the position of judge of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Macedonia from 7.10.2008-07.10.2017

Description of non-judicial legal activities

  • Member of the working group for drafting a Law on the Academy for Judges and Public Prosecutors, 2020/2021, Ministry of Justice of the RSM
  • Member of the working group for digitalization of justice, 2021, Ministry of Justice of RSM
  • Member of the working group for the drafting of the Law on Mediation, 2020, Ministry of Justice of the RSM
  • Member of the National Management Board for the implementation of activities within the Horizontal Facility Project for the Western Balkans and Turkey 2019-2022
  • Member of the National Steering Board of the EU-TWINING Project – Strengthening the Institutional Capacities of Research Centers, 2021
  • Member of the National Steering Board of the EU Project “Just(ice) Children-EU for Juvenile and Child-Friendly Justice”, UNICEF, 2020
  • Member of the Working group on linguistics at the European Judicial Training Network (EJTN), 2021/ EJTN Working group on linguistics Reseau European de Formation Judiciaire European Judicial Training Network Wednesday, February 2021
  • Member of the national body for judicial reforms, 2017 (September-December), Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Macedonia
  • Member of the working group on the law on mediation, 2018, Ministry of Justice
  • Expert/member of the team for the preparation of the Law on Volunteering and the Strategy for Volunteering of the Republic of Macedonia 2009-2010
  • Member of the working group for the drafting of the Law on Conflict of Interest (first draft) 2005
  • Member of the working group for the drafting of the Law on Prevention and Protection from Discrimination (first draft), Ministry of Justice and OSCE 2004/2005
  • Member of the working group for drafting the Law on Noise, Ministry of Environment, 2002

Trainer, panelist and tutor

  • Trainer of the project “Joint commitment for better achievements in the judiciary” of the Institute for Human Rights from Skopje, five workshops 2019-2021 (Strumica, Gostivar, Ohrid, Skopje) on the topic: “The status of judges (principles and practice) according to international and domestic legal frameworks”
  • Trainer of the project “Strengthening the capacities of institutions in the fight against corruption”, on the topic “Legal regulation related to conflict of interest” (Conflict of interest and Whistleblower Protection Law), USAID Transparency International Macedonia and ASJO, 2021 June 2021
  • Panelist at the workshop “On the quality and uniformity of court decisions in the field of civil law”, within the framework of the project “Partnership Justice: Restoring the trust of citizens”, – “The Constitutional Court and its role in the unification of court decisions” June 2021
  • HELP tutor of the Bioetka course, ASJO, Seventh generation listeners, April 2021
  • HELP tutor of the Justice for Children course, RSM Bar Association, June/July 2021
  • Panelist at the Joint Regional High-Level Conference on “Foreign Terrorist Fighters
  • Panelist at the Joint Regional High-Level Conference on “Foreign Terrorist Fighters – Addressing Current Challenges”, Side event: “Training Guides on the investigation and prosecution of Foreign Terrorist Fighters through sharing of electronic evidence”, Topic: “Training tools and sustainable capacity” building to investigate and prosecute FTFs cases”, February 2020, OSCE, UNOCT, UNODC and UNCTED
  • Webinar panelist “Protection of personal data – every citizen’s right”, Macedonian Center for International Cooperation, August 26, 2020
  • HELP tutor of the Introduction to the ECHR course (adaptation to the Macedonian language), initial training at the Academy for Judges and Prosecutors, Seventh Generation Listeners, September 2020
  • Panelist at the OSCE Violence Against Women survey Conference “Commitment, Data, Action” May 6-7, 2019 Vienna
  • Lectures on constitutional law/constitutional judicial practice at the “Pavel Shatev” Academy for Judges and Public Prosecutors in 2014

Certificates of training and participation:

  • Certificate for participation at the online course “Organization of a Judicial Training Institution” 5-9 July, 2021, ENM France
  • ToT training, OPDAT, USA, June 2021
  • Certificate for participation for virtual study visit for Western Balkans Judicial Training Institutions to the SSR Institute, the Netherlands: “Managing Judicial e-Learning”, 23-24 June 2021, program for “Cooperation of the Western Balkans’ Judicial Training Institutions”, GIZ in partnership with SSR
  • HELP tutor on the Bioetka course, 2021, 30 people from initial training Seventh generation listeners launched on February 25, 2021
  • Certificate for completed HELP course on Justice for Children, 2021
  • “Recent Trends in the Case Law of the Court of Justice of the EU”, Annual Conference, 3 and 4 December 2020, EIPA Luxembourg Online Annual Conference
  • Annual Regional Rule of Law Forum for South East Europe, Civil Rights Defenders, The AIRE Centre, 16-17 October 2020 Seventh Regional Forum on the Rule of Law in South East Europe “Covid 19 and the ECHR”
  • HELP tutor for the Introduction to ECHR course (Macedonian language adaptation), 60 people from initial training Seventh generation listeners, launched on September 2, 2020
  • Certificate for Right to a Fair Trial (Art.6 ECHR)- Recent ECtHR Case Law, ERA Academy of European Law, Online Seminar, June 4-5 2020
  • Certificate for completed HELP course in Bioethics, 2020
  • Certificate of Participation on “Regional Workshop for South-Eastern Europe on Foreign Terrorist Fighters’ Cases; Manual for Judicial Training Institutes” Vienna 16-18 December 2019, UN Office on Drugs and Crime, presentation on “Curricula Development with regard to FTFs”
  • Study visit “Development of Leadership and Management Capacity of the Court Presidents and Chief Prosecutors. Improving Team Efficiency.” Luxembourg 22 October 2019- EIPA European Institute of Public Administration, European Center for Judges and Lawyers
  • HELP Certificate of Training (ToT), Council of Europe Program for Human Rights Education for Legal Professionals, 02-03 October 2019
  • Training of Trainers (ToT), Delivery of the Introductory Training Module on Cybercrime, Electronic Evidence and Online Crime Proceeds, Skopje, 2-6 April 2019, Cybercrime Programme Office of the Council of Europe, EU and the Council of Europe

Participation in conferences

  • Participation on EIPA Luxembourg Online Annual Conference – Webinar 09.02.2021
  • Participation in the event “Effective Confiscation of Criminal Proceeds: Legal Standards, Challenges and Good Practices” – organized by the AIRE Center and the Regional Anti-Corruption Initiative (RAI) with the support of the UK Government, 09 February 2021
  • Participation on “Recent Trends in the Case Law of the Court of Justice of the EU”, Annual Conference, 3 and 4 December 2020
  • Participation on Conference “Shared Responsibility in Implementing the European Convention on Human Rights: Addressing Challenges with (new) judicial Tools” 24-25 October 2020 Sarajevo, Initiative for Legal Certainty in the Western Balkans EU, CoE, Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
  • Participation at the Annual Regional Rule of Law Forum for South East Europe, Civil Rights Defenders, The AIRE Centre, 16-17 October 2020 Seventh Regional Forum on the Rule of Law in South East Europe “ Covid 19 and the ECHR”
  • Webinar organized by the Macedonian Center for International Cooperation, panelist on the topic: “Protection of personal data – the right of every citizen”, August 26, 2020
  • Participation as a judge in the regional MOOT Court competitions, June 2017 in Skopje and October 2018 in Bitola
Publications and written papers

During the work engagement of UKIM, at the Institute for Sociological and Political-Legal Research, she was involved in about forty projects supported by various domestic and foreign partners (see above). The studies that resulted from those researches, in which I also had a part in writing, included the systemic-legal dimension of the researched topics. Also, during the mandate as a judge in the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Macedonia, apart from the regular work, papers were also written which mainly stemmed from the experience gained from the jurisprudence of the Court. Author of seven books, about thirty studies or parts of studies (co-authorship) and twenty scientific papers. The following is a list of some notable and/or recent publications:

  • “Academy for judges and public prosecutors – analysis of the current positioning of the institution and its role in the training of judicial staff”, OSCE and ASJO, co-authorship, issued in three languages (Macedonian, Albanian and English) CIP 347.96:377(497.711)(047.31) ), 2020
  • “Some current questions about the status of judges through the prism of the practice of the European Court of Human Rights”, (Macedonian language) “Legal Dialogue” No. 21 June 2020, ISSN 1857-7644, electronic journal of the Institute for Human Rights ISSN: 1857- 7644
  • “The state of emergency and human rights guaranteed by the Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights” – Analysis of the declaration of a state of emergency in the context of the human rights guaranteed by the Constitution of the Republic of North Macedonia and the European Convention on Human Rights, prepared in co-authorship with Velimir M.Sc. Delovski, published by Justice Observers, April 9, 2020
Description to other professional activities

Elected full professor and scientific advisor, Institute for Sociological and Political-Legal Research, “St. Cyril and Methodius” University – Skopje (2006-2008) on the subjects: “Civil Society-Characteristics and Legal Framework” and “Political Decision-Making”. Since 2018, the subject “Civil Society” has been taken over again. On March 31, 2006, she was re-elected to the teaching-scientific title of scientific adviser in the field of legal sciences (University Bulletin no. 894). Until 2008, she taught “Introduction to Politics” and “Contemporary Political Systems” in English and “Globalization and World Politics” and “Elections and Human Rights” in Macedonian at the University American College-Skopje, as well as “Civil Society – Legal Dimension” ” at the Institute for Sociological and Political-Legal Research. Permanent participation and/or management of research during the period of work at the Institute for Sociological and Political-Legal Research for various domestic and foreign partners: agencies of the United Nations, European Union, World Bank, OSCE, USAID, IRI, NDI, OSI, Foundation Friedrich Ebert, Konrad Adenauer Foundation, domestic civic organizations, partner universities, etc. I was involved in writing scientific papers, studies, analyses, reports, national strategies, strategic documents and academic lectures. The topics mainly related to: conflict management, elections, human rights (freedom of movement, peaceful assembly, gender equality, children’s rights, Roma, health, ethnic and religious affiliation, minorities, women’s rights, living environment), civil society, political system, peace, and stability. The following is a list of prepared strategic documents:

  • Member of the team for the preparation of the State Program for Prevention and Suppression of Corruption, Pillar: Political System and Justice, 2007
  • Author of the Strategy for Government Cooperation with the Civil Sector with an Action Plan for Implementation (2007-2011), Government of the Republic of Macedonia, General Secretariat, Department for Cooperation with Non-Governmental Organizations, EAR and MCMS, 2007
  • Author (co-author) of the National Strategy for Roma in the Republic of Macedonia, Ministry of Labor and Social Policy, 2004/2005
  • Author (co-author) of the National Housing Strategy of the Republic of Macedonia (the part regarding the legal aspect), Ministry of Transport and Communications, 2005