Constitutional Court in North Macedonia imposed a temporary suspension of a decision of the Ministry of Justice on the possibility of declaring ethnicity on birth certificates. 

The Constitutional Court assesses that the decision of the Ministry contradicts the laws and the Constitution and the main reason for the suspension is that the decision was not announced in the Official Gazette within seven days of its approval. While the Court is expected to make a final decision, the certificates will not include ethnicity. 

Minister Lloga himself closely followed the session of the Constitutional Court. He then told the journalists that with this decision the Court is opening "Pandora's Box", because in many other cases the rule for announcing a decision in the Official Gazette within a seven-day period has not been respected. 

The Minister blamed the Government Secretariat for the delay in publishing the decision of the Ministry of Justice in the Official Gazette. 

Noting that it is not the first time that announcements in the Official Gazette are delayed, Lloga said that: "Starting tomorrow, I will personally present dozens of initiatives to the Constitutional Court for the violation of the legal deadline that foresees the announcement of every law and legal act by institutions in the Official Gazette". 

He warned that a new text will soon be prepared, however identical to the old decision, which will respect the legal deadlines for publication in the Official Gazette. 

Minister of Justice, Krenar Lloga requested the establishment of ethnicity in certificates due to a multitude of false declarations during competitions for jobs in administration or public institutions by Macedonians who declared themselves as "Albanians" or as members of other ethnic minorities in competitions for jobs reserved by the Ohrid Agreement for members of these communities. 

The possibility of showing ethnicity in certificates was a previous request of the Alliance for Albanians, of which Minister Lloga is a member. Lloga published a few days ago on social networks a certificate of his where "Albanian" was written in the ethnic column. 

However, a number of Macedonian legal experts, including the predecessor of Lloga, Renata Deskoska (LSDM), estimate that the ethnic affiliation in the certificates is not legal. 

Currently, in birth, marriage and death certificates, apart from data such as name, surname and address, there is also citizenship (of North Macedonia), but not ethnicity.