The Media Development Center (MDC) organized the debate „What did the Decrimininalisation of Defamation Brought to the Table?“ yesterday, March 13, 2014, at the Club of Journalists in Skopje.

At the debate, MDC presented the main findings of the monitoring of court cases of defamation actions involving journalists and media outlets as litigants, conducted by MDC in the period February 1, 2013 to February 28, 2014. The monitoring was conducted under the auspices of the USAID Project for Media Legal Reform and Responsible Media.

The debate was moderated by journalist Saše Dimevski. The panelists Filip Medarski, attorney at law; Jadranka Kostova, editor in chief of „Fokus“ weekly magazine; and Naser Selmani, President of the Association of Journalists of Macedonia (AJM) also presented their views on the Law on Civil Liability for Defamation. The findings were presented by Vladimir Medarski, member of the legal team of the Media Development Center.

Many participants joined the debate and noted many problems and defects of the Law, but also in the case law resulting from its implementation in defamation litigations tried in Macedonian courts.

A detailed report from the debate, together with the monitoring report, will be available on our website next week.