Šašivari: bar exam changes will not be adopted without students, Venice Commission opinion to be sought

Justice Minister Jeton Šašivari said on October 19 that changes related to the bar exam “will not be adopted without the participation of the affected parties”. According to reports, they concern candidates who studied law in different languages and are meant to give them equal conditions, without parallel examination systems. The specific provisions are not given in the reports.

The ministry has started consultations with law faculties and students, and Šašivari announced it will soon request an opinion from the Council of Europe's Venice Commission, to ensure legal certainty and alignment with European standards. He said the ministry is prepared to consider the Commission's recommendations. He also said the government is committed to advancing language rights, in full respect of the Constitution and laws, and that students and faculties should not be faced with a fait accompli.

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Why is this sensitive? The bar exam is a requirement for working as a judge, prosecutor, lawyer and in other legal professions. Albanian-language students from the State University of Tetovo, Mother Teresa University and South East European University protested in April and May because the exam is taken only in Macedonian. They want it also to be possible in Albanian, and argue that this is discrimination and contrary to the Constitution and the Law on the Use of Languages.

At that time the Ministry of Justice rejected the request, explaining that the exam complies with the legal framework and is a professional assessment, not an administrative procedure governed by the language law. The government proposed an expert group, in which students saw delay. At a protest on May 18, three students were detained after a physical clash with police. The coalition party VLEN then said it supported the demand and that the government would resolve the issue.

What is new? The tone is now different: the minister speaks not of a closed topic but of consultations and a European opinion. That is a step toward a solution, but not a solution, since neither the model under consideration nor a deadline has been published.

Where is the compromise? The two basic positions are: a single functioning judicial system in which judges and prosecutors understand all proceedings, and the right to education and to use the language in which the student completed studies. A model that reconciles both, for example with different forms of examination, must preserve the comparability of results. What exactly the ministry will propose is not known.

What is not known? It is not known when the request to the Venice Commission will be submitted or how long its opinion will take. It is also unknown whether there will be a new law by the end of the year, or whether the students who protested will accept the model. The page carrying the minister's statement also points to announcements of protests if there is no exam in Albanian, but does not say who is announcing them.

What does it mean? The issue is moving from the street to the consultation table, which is progress in tone. Whether it becomes progress in substance will depend on whether the model is published in time and satisfies both the students and the profession.

MKNews Hub · Macedonia · October 21, 2026