"Res Judicata": Constitutional Court Won't Reopen Party Financing Question — New Parties Stay Locked Out
Court president Kostadinovski voted with the majority but personally believes the provisions are unconstitutional. The model stays unchanged.
The Constitutional Court declined to initiate proceedings on an initiative by opposition party Levica challenging the constitutionality of Electoral Code provisions on state financing of political parties. Court president Darko Kostadinovski explained that a majority of judges remained consistent with a previous position that this is "res judicata" — an already-decided matter, citing a similar 2023 initiative filed by Pavle Trajanov.
The disputed provisions allocate budget funds for party financing based on results from previous elections. That means a new political party formed between two election cycles effectively has no access to those funds — starting from a significantly less favourable position than already-established parties.
Kostadinovski, despite voting with the majority not to initiate proceedings, publicly stated a personal dissenting view: that the provisions are unconstitutional and create unequal conditions for political actors, repeating a position he first stated three years ago. The effect of the decision not to proceed is clear — the existing model stays unchanged, and new parties remain without access to state financing until the next election.
At the same session, the Court struck down parts of the Law on the Academy for Judges and Public Prosecutors, related to its funding and to equating the director's status with that of the Supreme Court president — that ruling takes effect from 1 January 2027, giving lawmakers time to align the disputed provisions.
MKNews Hub · Politics · September 24, 2026
