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The rule of law is a fundamental principle of every democratic state, and one of its constituent elements is legal certainty, which implies that citizens will be familiar with the legal rules of the state, i.e. laws and other subordinate general legal acts (general legal regulations). According to the list of criteria for the rule of law (Rule of Law Checklist) issued by the Venice Commission[1], legal certainty, as an element of the rule of law, implies access to legislation, i.e. it asks the following two questions: Are all legal acts published before they enter into force? Are they easily accessible, e.g. free of charge via the internet and/or in an official bulletin?[2]

The rule of law is one of the fundamental values ​​of our constitutional order, in accordance with Article 8, paragraph 1, line 3 of the Constitution of the Republic of North Macedonia.[3].

According to Article 52, paragraphs 2 and 3 of the Constitution, "laws and other regulations shall be published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Macedonia no later than seven days from the day of their adoption. Laws shall enter into force no earlier than the eighth day from the day of their publication, and by way of exception, as determined by the Parliament, on the day of their publication."

The Official Gazette of the Republic of North Macedonia is published in printed and electronic form. Official Gazette website[4]contains an overview of all editions by year, however, access is free only for editions from past years, and access to the editions for the current year requires a subscription. For the printed edition, the annual subscription is 16,650 denars, and the monthly installment is 1,650 denars[5] (27 euros). For the electronic edition, the annual subscription is 7,000 denars per user[6] (114 euros).

Considering the standards set by the Venice Commission and the constitutional provisions, this situation is completely contrary to the principle of the rule of law and the constitution. Citizens (natural and legal persons) should not pay a single denar to become familiar with the general legal regulations of the state, and thus with their rights and obligations, because the state has an obligation to familiarize citizens with the general legal regulations!

For more detailed regulation of the publication of the general legal regulations of the state, the Parliament has adopted the Law on the Publication of Laws and Other Regulations and Acts in the Official Gazette of the Republic of North Macedonia.[7](Law on the Publication of General Legal Regulations).

According to Article 2 of the Law, "the publication of laws and other regulations, acts and the issuance of the official gazette, the Official Gazette of the Republic of North Macedonia, is of public interest", and this activity of public interest, according to Article 11 of the same law, is carried out by the Public Enterprise, the Official Gazette of the Republic of North Macedonia - Skopje.

Article 11 of the Law expands the scope of the PE Official Gazette and stipulates that it "also carries out publishing activities (publishing books, collections of regulations, magazines and other types of publications), in printed or electronic form, publishes/maintains a database of regulations in the Republic of North Macedonia in electronic form, organizes and holds educational seminars (counseling), as well as other activities determined by the Statute of the enterprise, if the performance of such activities does not impede the publication of the official gazette "Official Gazette of the Republic of North Macedonia".

According to Article 14, paragraph 1 of the Law, the funds for the operation of a PE are provided from revenues from its operations, namely from:

• subscription, i.e. sale of the official gazette "Official Gazette of the Republic of North Macedonia" in printed and electronic form and of other publications published by the Public Enterprise, in printed and electronic form,
• the published acts, announcements, public calls, public competitions, invalid documents and other announcements specified in Article 10, paragraphs 2 and 3 of this law,
• fees for services rendered, revenues from the regulatory database in the Republic of North Macedonia in electronic form and
• income from other publishing activities in printed or electronic form, educational seminars and from other sources.

Article 14 provides the basis for charging for access to the official gazette editions, but does not determine the amount of the subscription, nor does it indicate by what act this amount will be determined. Article 20 of the law stipulates that “the powers, organization and operation of the bodies of the Public Enterprise, as well as other issues of importance for the operation of the Public Enterprise, are determined in more detail by the Statute”. So, we assume that the issue of determining the amount of the subscription is regulated by the Statute of the PE. However, the statute of the PE Official Gazette is not published on their website, which speaks volumes about the lack of transparency of this public enterprise, although the main purpose of its existence and functioning is precisely to make general legal regulations, such as their statute, public. Nor are the subscription forms[8], which are published on the website of the Official Gazette do not contain the basis on which the subscription was determined. 

This situation is completely contrary to the rule of law. The general legal regulations of the state (laws and other by-laws and general legal acts) must not be commercialized. Not a single denar should be charged for them, because they regulate social relations, i.e. the behavior of citizens and their rights and obligations, which is why the state has an obligation to familiarize citizens with these regulations.

To summarize - How exactly is the principle of the rule of law violated?

By limiting or conditioning access to current issues of the Official Gazette, with a subscription of a certain amount of money, it violatesarticle 8of the Constitution which establishes the rule of law as a constitutional value and Article 52 of the Constitution which establishes the obligation of state bodies to publish legal regulations. The Constitution does not expressly stipulate that access to the Official Gazette is free of charge, but this does not mean that these constitutional provisions should be interpreted in that direction. Specifically, the Law on Publication of Regulations should be interpreted in light of Article 8 of the Constitution, i.e. the rule of law and legal certainty as its constituent element and analogously to the goal that should be achieved by Article 52 paragraphs 2 and 3 of the Constitution which regulates the publication of general regulations before their entry into force. The goal of this constitutional provision is for citizens to be familiar with the legal rules that the state prescribes before they enter into force and begin to be applied, and this cannot be achieved by limiting, i.e. conditioning with the payment of a subscription.

The Constitution of the Republic of Croatia, in Article 90, contains almost identical provisions to those in Article 52 of the Constitution of the Republic of Macedonia, which relate to the publication of the general legal regulations of the state. Moreover, access to the Official Gazette of the Republic of Croatia (equivalent to the Official Gazette in the Republic of Macedonia) is free of charge and easily accessible electronically on their website.[9]The same is the case with the Official Gazette (Uredni List) of the Republic of Slovenia.[10]Official Gazette of the Federal Republic of Germany[11]and the Republic of France[12]are free, and only additional services are charged. Unfortunately, this is not the case in our country.

We cannot talk about the rule of law when citizens have limited, or conditional, access to the general legal regulations of the state. This absurd and unconstitutional situation is indicative of the (low) legal and political culture in the country. One cannot ignore the impression that the PE Official Gazette has declared ownership over the laws, which were actually adopted by the representative body of the citizens. This oxymoron seriously threatens the rule of law and legal certainty in the country.

This absurd situation can be corrected in several ways:

1) If the Parliament adopts amendments to the Law on the Publication of General Legal Regulations and stipulates that access to the Official Gazette is free of charge.

2) If the PE Official Gazette amends its own by-laws that determine the subscription amounts, so that they stipulate that access to the general legal acts of the state will be free of charge, while it may charge for other services prescribed by Article 14 of the Law on Publication of General Legal Regulations (publication of commercial publications, holding trainings, consultations, etc.).

3) If the Constitutional Court initiates proceedings and determines the unconstitutionality of Article 14, paragraph 1, line 1