Daniela Dimovska: Probation is a way to serve a sentence, not a privilege for the powerful

A suspended sentence under protective supervision should be seen as a genuine opportunity for a convicted person’s reintegration into society, not as a benefit bought by influential people, says Daniela Dimovska.

Prisons cannot be the answer for everyone who commits a crime, she says. Probation is intended to ensure that sentences are served under supervision while convicted people gradually return to society.

The system for enforcing criminal sanctions is again facing difficulties. While the public calls for tougher measures against corruption and crime, prison capacity is insufficient. Idrizova, the country’s largest prison, is once again overcrowded.

The situation would be even worse without the probation system. There are currently around 1,200 active cases, most involving convicted people serving their sentences outside prison under supervision. Apart from the Basic Criminal Court in Skopje, however, courts elsewhere in the country have issued only a modest number of decisions imposing such measures.

Statistics show that the Basic Criminal Court in Skopje has handled almost seven out of ten cases involving alternative measures. The court’s president, Daniela Dimovska, who has also issued the largest number of such decisions, explains the reasons for the disparity.

“This is not just a statistic. It is also a responsibility for the Criminal Court in Skopje, as the largest court, to apply new and modern mechanisms for enforcing sanctions. Skopje is the largest judicial center and has the greatest number of courts. It is therefore understandable that changes emerge and are implemented more quickly here,” she says.

Dimovska does not believe probation is absent in other cities, but says its use could expand. She believes improvements to the probation system, more accurate risk assessment reports and greater public trust would lead to wider use of the measure.

She disagrees with the executive branch’s assessment that some judges lack the necessary training or are reluctant to impose alternative measures. According to the president of the Basic Criminal Court in Skopje, each case must be considered separately and its risks assessed individually.

“I would not generalize about this issue, and I do not believe it is a matter of judges lacking training. We must distinguish between training and caution. In these cases, judges exercise greater caution because they analyze the risks, vulnerabilities and all other factors to determine whether the measure can be imposed,” Dimovska says.

Another difficulty is how the public perceives these decisions. A suspended sentence under protective supervision or house arrest is often interpreted as a lack of punishment or a favor for powerful people.

Dimovska says public pressure should not determine judges’ decisions, but acknowledges that public perceptions need to change. She understands the suspicion that arises when someone is convicted of a crime but is not sent to prison, because some people see this as the result of connections.

“Probation is neither a privilege nor a gift. It is not a favor done for someone, but a way to serve a sentence. The aim is for the person to serve the sentence under the established rules and under supervision, while being reintegrated into society and returning to the system,” she emphasizes.

The court president also appeals to convicted people’s families to report any corrupt demands connected to obtaining an alternative measure. “Court decisions cannot be bought. Such an act would call into question not only the particular decision, but also trust in the entire institution,” Dimovska says.

Regarding house arrest, Aleksandar Pandov, director of the Directorate for the Execution of Sanctions, told “360 Gradë” that the legislation is too restrictive. According to him, the measure can be applied only when the offense carries a prison term of up to five years and the sentence imposed is up to three years.

Dimovska confirms that these legal restrictions are why the Basic Criminal Court in Skopje currently has no active house arrest cases. She explains that the types of offenses handled by the court rarely meet the conditions set by law.

“For example, the prescribed sentence for the offense of ‘money laundering’ is one to ten years. In such a situation, house arrest cannot be imposed because the offense falls outside the limits set by law,” she explains.

Another problem, according to Dimovska, is the lack of clear rules for some of the conditions required by the Criminal Code. This includes the provision allowing house arrest for “elderly and physically frail people.”

“The Ministry of Justice should adopt appropriate regulations, because at present we have neither regulations nor guidelines defining these conditions. The situation is somewhat clearer when it comes to health, since medical reports, expert assessments and other documents can be used. But determining who is considered elderly remains a matter of debate,” Dimovska concludes, according to Zhurnal.mk.