The Constitutional Court of the Republic of North Macedonia is holding its 14th session this morning. On the agenda: seven initiatives to review the constitutionality of laws from several sectors, and a series of other items. All in a single working day that could routinely reshape the legal system in several areas.

Among the laws to be discussed is the Construction Law - with provisions affecting urban planning. The Game and Hunting Law - with questions about managing natural resources. And the Waste Management Law - with environmental regulations being tested for compliance with the Constitution.

Beyond these three major laws, the agenda also includes regulations in the area of health insurance, as well as specific decisions taken by units of local self-government. An additional item - a draft decision tied to Article 176 paragraph 2 of the Child Protection Law.

The Constitutional Court operates with a panel of 9 judges, and its decisions are final. When it rules that a specific legal provision is not in line with the Constitution, that provision ceases to apply. The sessions aren't public - but their decisions have direct consequences for citizens' lives. Whether the construction law gets properly aligned with the Constitution, or whether open debates about how an urban plan is drawn up come back - all of that is decided today.

For a Balkan context this matters. The Constitutional Court in many regional countries is a victim of political pressure. When political forces in parliament want to push through a controversial law, they often probe the boundaries of what the constitution allows. The reality afterwards is that constitutional courts either roll those decisions back, or - more often - stay silent. The question today isn't only how they'll decide. The question is whether there will be any serious review of the disputed provisions at all, or whether the decisions will simply track the status quo.