The “Titanik” case stands as one of the most complex cases in North Macedonia’s judicial history, symbolizing the country's struggle against corruption and abuse of power. Conducted by North Macedonia’s former Special Prosecutor’s Office (SPO), the case involved senior officials of the then-ruling VMRO-DPMNE party, who allegedly manipulated several electoral processes. Former Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski was identified as the mastermind behind the operation, encompassing ministers and prominent party officials. The "Titanik" case was part of a series of corruption probes conducted by the Special Prosecutor’s Office and prompted by the wiretapping scandal.

In February 2015, the opposition SDSM party began releasing secretly recorded tapes, exposing alleged mass illegal wiretapping operation and various forms of state abuse by the officials of the VMRO DPMNE-led government, including Gurevski´s involvement in electoral fraud. The scandal caused a major political crisis in North Macedonia, prompting the EU to broker a deal between the parties to resolve the instability.

Gruevski, who resigned under the EU-brokered agreement, dismissed the tapes as 'fabricated' by unnamed foreign intelligence agencies to destabilize the country.

One of the outcomes of that agreement was the creation of the Special Prosecution to investigate the alleged illegal surveillance and other abuses. In September 2015, Katica Janeva was appointed as the Special Prosecutor.

On 12 February 2016, the SPO launched the first and largest investigation about electoral, codenamed "Titanik". Former VMRO-DPMNE ministers and officials, judges, and members of the state electoral commission were implicated. They were accused of using their influence and official positions at both local and state levels to form a group that committed electoral crimes to keep the VMRO-DPMNE party in power and gain personal privileges. The investigation examined various offenses allegedly committed in past election cycles, including criminal association, violence, bribery, destruction of election materials, media manipulation and misuse of campaign funds. Additional irregularities involved issuing 15,000 fabricated birth certificates, printing 35,000 unused ID cards, and granting over 60,000 citizenships to ineligible voters.

Besides Gruevski, key figures implicated in the case included former Minister of Internal Affairs Gordana Jankuloska, former Minister of Transport and Communications Mile Janakieski, Government Secretary Kiril Bozinovski, former Government Secretary General Martin Protogjer, former Head of the Intelligence Agency Sasho Mijalkov and others.

On 29 June 2017, the SPO filed indictments in 17 cases, including for the "Titanik" case, requesting the detention of Nikola Gruevski and 17 others. The "Titanik" indictment charged the defendants with multiple offenses related to electoral irregularities under the framework of a criminal association. These charges included misuse of campaign funds, violation of electoral rights, violation of voters' freedom of choice, destruction of election material, forgery of a document, and vote-buying.

Due to the scale of the offenses and the number of defendants, the “Titanik” case was split into three parts: the "Titanik" case was the most high-profile, involving senior party officials, "Titanik 2" focused on a narrower scope of irregularities, mainly charges related to the abuse of official position, and the "Titanik 3" targeted the destruction of election materials during the 2013 local elections.

The trial phase of "Titanik" began in April 2018, with Gruevski and other defendants pleading not guilty. The proceedings were delayed due to the volume of evidence presented, including testimony from around 200 witnesses and extensive documentation. The trial in the "Titanik 3" case began already in March 2018 April 2018, followed by "Titanik 2" trial, that started in April. Later that fall, Gruevski fled to Hungary, evading the SPO’s efforts to bring him to justice.

In March 2019, a first-instance verdict in the "Titanik 2" case sentenced Saso Mijalkov and Menduh Thaci to prison for abuse of office. Similarly, in March 2020, two DUI officials were convicted in the "Titanik 3" case, although the Court of Appeal annulled those verdicts in July 2021.

Meanwhile, in March 2020, the SPO was dissolved amid a scandal involving its chief prosecutor, Katica Janeva. This severely damaged the public's trust in North Macedonia's judicial credibility. The SPO’s ongoing cases, including “Titanik,” were transferred to the Basic Public Prosecutor’s Office for Prosecuting Organized Crime and Corruption.

In 2021, some charges were dismissed against fourteen defendants, due to the expiration of the statute of limitations. In February 2022, several defendants in the "Titanik" case, including former ministers Gordana Jankuloska and Mile Janakieski, pleaded guilty to some of the charges. The two ministers alongside two other defendants were sentenced to prison by the Skopje Basic Criminal Court, while others received suspended sentences. The Court of Appeal adjusted those sentences in July 2023, offering probation to Jankuloska and a reduced sentence to Janakieski. North Macedonia's Supreme Court subsequently upheld these convictions.

On 07 April 2022, the "Titanik" trial had to restart from scratch due to the retirement of a jury member. This meant forcing the reintroduction of previously examined evidence and testimony from dozens of witnesses. This major setback effectively wasted four years of proceedings, further increasing the threat of reaching the statute of limitations.

By 2023, legislative amendments to the Criminal Code reduced penalties for abuses of official position, which accelerated the expiration of statutes of limitations for certain offenses. In November 2023, based on these amendments, the Skopje Court of Appeal dismissed the indictment against Sasho Mijalkov in the "Titanik 2" case, due to the expiry period for prosecution, raising concerns about the effectiveness of judicial reforms.

The "Titanik" case unveiled deep-rooted corruption within North Macedonia’s government, severely damaging public trust in the country's institutions. The six-year proceedings have been characterized by overturned verdicts, retrials, reduced sentences, and unresolved charges. Of the 17 indictments filed against 94 individuals by the SPO in 2017, few served prison sentences, while several evaded justice entirely. Originally meant to bolster transparency and accountability, the investigations, marred by setbacks and the dissolution of the SPO, left the Macedonian public disillusioned. Many charges remain currently unresolved, threatened by dismissal under the statute of limitations.