Last Thursday (May 14), North Macedonia’s Constitutional Court ruled to repeal the Law on Prevention and Protection Against Discrimination. The legislation represents the cornerstone of a decade-long struggle by civil society to ensure the protection of the country’s most vulnerable and marginalised communities, and its reversal now spells a major setback to democratic reforms.

The Law on Prevention and Protection Against Discrimination prohibits any discrimination based on race, origin, nationality or ethnicity, religion, political beliefs, and crucially, sexual orientation and gender identity. It was developed and drafted in a transparent and cooperative process and generally commended by local and international civil society organisations. Further, such robust legislation for the prevention of discrimination and functional institutions to enforce them were widely recognised as a pre-condition for North Macedonia’s opening of accession talks with the EU, which began in late March this year.

After an initial refusal by the former President to approve the bill, upon a second reading, the National Assembly adopted the law with a 55 vote out of 120; falling short, though, of the 61 votes required to reach a constitutional majority. Despite equality being among the ruling party’s key campaign pledges, over the past 12 months the government has shown a lack of will to enforce the legislation – for instance, by failing to conduct a transparent and merit-based selection of commissioners – instead, leaving it vulnerable to be repealed. Read more via CRD