Mickoski: The Macedonian language remains official in the judicial system

Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski said the government’s position on the request by Albanian students to take the bar examination in Albanian is clear.

Responding to a journalist’s question, Mickoski distinguished between the judicial system in Macedonia and the right to complete higher education in one’s mother tongue. According to him, no one questions students’ right to complete their studies in a language offered by the state.

He emphasized that at law faculties in Macedonia, higher education is conducted in three languages in addition to Macedonian. For this reason, he said, it is logical for the written part of the examination to be held in the language in which the higher education was provided.

Mickoski added that during the oral part, in which a civil and a criminal dispute are simulated, the issue is justice. He said that when discussing the law and the justice system, the principle of “lingua franca” applies, meaning the use of one language.

According to the prime minister, in Macedonia this language is Macedonian. He also referred to the recommendation of the Venice Commission, stressing that the position of international institutions must be respected. “The judicial system in Macedonia remains a ‘lingua franca’—a system in which the Macedonian language will be official,” Mickoski declared./Telegrafi/