According to the Magazin news site, Criminal Court President Ivan Dzolev is abusing the system for random allocation of court cases, which can lead to having the most politically obedient judges assigned to the cases of importance for the Zoran Zaev Government.

Magazine reports based on statements from court insiders, who claim that three staffers were re-assigned to lower level positions and that one of them, Gordana Risteska, allegedly herself asked to be reassigned, to avoid facing criminal punishment for tampering with the so-called AKMIS electronic system. A clerk named Jana Andonova prepared a written note detailing violations of court procedures in the use of the AKMIS system, was promptly reassigned. She and a third clerk named Straso Siljanovski sought sick leave, which Magazine reports is related to the pressures exerted by them to tamper with the system.

Ways to affect the random allocation of cases include refusing to input cases into the system, or leaving blank slots which can also affect the allocation.

According to Magazin, judge Gordana Spirevska, who was recently appointed to the Judicial Council, raised the issue with members from the team led by German expert Reinhard Priebe.

Dzolev is seen as close to the Zaev Government, which is intensifying its prosecution of opposition officials, activists and commentators, with weekly arrests and police intimidation. Judge Dobrila Kacarska, also seen as a strong Zaev loyalist, was assigned some of the most important and politically charged cases such as the April 2017 trial and fast tracked case against former opposition Nikola Gruevski which prompted him to leave the country and seek asylum in Hungary.