North Macedonia’s Ministry of Interior has reinstated former judge Lazar Nanev as a police inspector — 23 years after his position was placed “on hold” to allow him to serve as a judge at the Basic Court in Kavadarci. His return to the police force comes just weeks before he is due to stand trial on criminal charges related to his judicial conduct.
Nanev, who previously served as president of the Kavadarci court, was dismissed from the judiciary in February for alleged unprofessional and unethical conduct, including contacting a defendant 97 times during a trial he was presiding over. The Judicial Council also received complaints about pressure he allegedly exerted on a local prosecutor.
In a written response to local media, the Ministry of Interior confirmed that Nanev officially resumed work on July 15 as an inspector for general crime in the Criminal Affairs Office in Kavadarci. His position had been legally suspended — but not terminated — based on a 2002 decision signed by then-Interior Minister Ljube Boskoski.
Nanev worked as a police inspector from December 1992 to 2002, when he was elected judge. According to then-existing labour laws, his employment contract with the police was paused, allowing him to return once his judicial duties ended.
After his dismissal in February 2025, Nanev submitted a request to return to the Ministry of Interior. Citing the legal grounds established in 2002, the ministry approved the request and reassigned him to a position equivalent to his qualifications.
He is now expected to appear in court on September 23 as a defendant — and as an active police inspector in the very ministry that preserved his post for more than two decades.