The effects of alternative measures in Macedonian criminal legislation

Alternative measures were introduced into the Macedonian penal system in 2004 with the aim of
reducing prison overcrowding and strengthening the application of the principle of individualization.
The aim is to apply community treatment for minor crimes, i.e. the perpetrator is not placed in a
penitentiary institution.
This paper has as its subject of research the effects of the application of alternative measures in practice,
starting from the fact that 20 years have passed since their normative regulation.
The results of the research showed that the essence of the alternative penal policy in North Macedonia
has not been achieved. Namely, for a long time there was an institutional gap that imposed the need to
create a Probation Service through the adoption of the Probation Law.
The first results of the Probation Service appeared in 2019. The research shows that in the following
years the numbers have improved, but institutional inconsistency, different approaches and poor
implementation of measures requiring supervision in the community have been shown.
The research showed that even after 20 years, the dominant alternative measure is the suspended
sentence (without supervision), in fact, this measure has retained the monopoly it had before the
introduction of alternative measures. In addition, there has been no significant reduction in the prison
population in order to adequately treat convicts in prison and their rehabilitation.
The research applied the methods of content analysis and the statistical method, and also used data from
several competent institutions.