Criminal Defamation
No provisions.
Criminal Defamation of Public Officials
No provisions.
Criminal Defamation of the Head of State
No provisions.
Criminal Defamation of the State and its Symbols
Art. 178 of the Macedonian Criminal Code prohibits ridiculing or publicly mocking the Republic of Macedonia, its flag, coat of arms or national anthem. The penalty is a fine.
Criminal Defamation of Foreign Heads of State
Art. 181 of the Macedonian Criminal Code prohibits publicly mocking a foreign state, its flag, coat of arms or national anthem, the head of a foreign state or the diplomatic representative of a foreign state in Macedonia. The penalty is a fine.
Criminal Defamation of Foreign States and Symbols
Art. 181 of the Macedonian Criminal Code prohibits publicly mocking a foreign state, its flag, coat of arms or national anthem, the head of a foreign state or the diplomatic representative of a foreign state in Macedonia. The penalty is a fine.
In addition, Art. 182 of the Criminal Code punishes publicly mocking an international organization. The penalty is a fine.
Criminal Defamation of the Deceased
No provisions.
Criminal Blasphemy
Art. 319(1) of the Macedonian Criminal Code prohibits ridiculing religious symbols (as well as national and ethnic symbols) in a way causes or incites religious hatred, discord or intolerance. The penalty is imprisonment from one to five years. Should riots, violence of significant property damage result from the act, the penalty is increased to imprisonment from one to ten years (Art. 319(2)).
Criminal Statistics
N/A
Criminal Defamation and Media
N/A
Recent Legal Changes
In 2012, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia repealed criminal defamation laws and and adopted the Law on Civil Liability for Insult and Defamation in 2012.
Notes and Acknowledgements
Information for the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia was originally collected by IPI as part of the “Out of Balance” report, published in January 2015 with support from the European Commission and incorporating research contributed by Center for Media, Data and Society at Central European University in Budapest and by the SHARE Foundation in Belgrade. This entry was later expanded and updated by IPI as part of a study commissioned by the Office of the Representative on Freedom of the Media of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).
A fully footnoted version of this entry is available in the OSCE study. This entry was last updated in March 2017.
The information contained in this database is for informational and advocacy purposes only. If you are a journalist facing a defamation claim, you should seek legal advice from a qualified attorney. However, if you are unable to find such an attorney, IPI may be able to assist you in doing so. Please contact us at info(at)ipi.media.
