On October 8th, 2009 in Hotel Holiday Inn, Skopje, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, office Skopje (FES) with the German International Legal Cooperation Foundation (IRZ) jointly has organized the International Conference “The Relationship between the Citizen and the State in a Democratic Rule-of-the-law State”
                                                                                                                       

Introduction and Background Information
Macedonia is going through the demanding period of transition from a socialist state towards a democratic rule-of-the-law-state. The central topic of the transition is the indispensable change of the relationship between the citizen and the state. This, above all, means abandoning the centralized one-party ruling system and transition into a democratically legitimized, participative understanding of the state, in which not only are the citizens entitled to defense from the state authorities, but experience themselves as a part of the state community and take active part in the will creation processes. The role of the citizen, therefore, is to be shifted from that of a sheer object into that of a subject of activities of the state in a wider sense. From the perspective of the state, this is a matter of the state’s understanding itself in its role for the benefit of the citizen, particularly when it comes to the services it wishes to offer its citizens and the opportunities it wishes to put forward for review by the independent courts in relation to its activities. Finally, the question arises as to whether the state and its officials - but also the society as a whole and the citizens as individuals together with it - are facing their socialist past and are coping with it.

Germany faced these issues and problems following the fall of the Berlin wall 20 years ago. The two social systems, which had developed separately for more than 40 years, had to be united in one. Despite that, the experiences of the divided Germany point to numerous particularities, which may not be transposed to other countries in transition. This is why it is important to also take into account the experiences of countries such as the Czech Republic, which have had to cope with the process of transition and the accession to the European Union relying solely on their own abilities, without internal economic and integration assistance, such as the assistance provided by the “old Federal Republic of Germany” to East Germany.

Although the case of Germany was an atypical one, it still offers certain elements of orientation for the countries in transition, such as Macedonia, in their search for their own way of transition from a real socialism into a democratic rule-of-the-law-state. On the other hand, the discussion between the participants from Germany and Macedonia will enable the German ones to be self-critical in their analysis of the development of Germany since 1990, in such a way that would be helpful for the transition process in Macedonia.

Conference Objectives and Approach
The Conference dealt with the relationship between the citizen and the state, imposed by the transition process, within the following two thematic groups:

1. Reforms of the legal relationship between the citizen and the state
2. Processing the injustice done on part of the state towards its citizens during the socialist regime

The topics have been presented and discussed upon using the cases of Germany, Macedonia and the Czech Republic.

As part of the conference, various possibilities for reforms in the rule-of-the-law-state have been presented and discussed, particularly as regards the shaping of relations between the citizens and the state, with all their advantages and disadvantages. The same goes for the political and legal lustration of the socialist past. It is on these bases that suggestions for directing the future development of Macedonia may be formed afterwards.

This may and should not take place merely from the perspective of the state or to refer exclusively to the options for acting by the state. As this process - as we already mentioned – is also related to the participative inclusion of the citizens, it may not be regarded as complete without changes in the mentality and behavior of citizens. The latter, taken as individuals or organized in civil associations, must look upon the newly-established system as advancement of their personal position, as well as to accept and accomplish their role in it.

Available downloads:

- detailed report from the second Panel submitted by the moderator Mr. Aleksandar Lj. Spasov - download here
- Program available on English - download here
- Written contributions- in English, in Macedonian, in German