Corruption in the judicial system does not represent a widespread phenomenon, but authorities continue to identify isolated cases, said Ion Guzun, a member of the Superior Council of Magistracy, during the program Cu Sens.
He stated that in recent years authorities have approved the initiation of criminal investigations against certain judges, while the Prosecutor General’s Office has presented evidence of corrupt actions involving some magistrates.
At the same time, the results of the external evaluation process (vetting) show that, in some cases, evaluators did not identify unjustified assets among judges. Guzun emphasized that this does not exclude the existence of corruption but highlights the need to continue efforts to prevent and combat the phenomenon.
He also referred to a case in Ukraine where authorities caught an official with $1.5 million after he had passed the evaluation process, stressing that such situations can occur even after reforms.
“No one can guarantee that someone, at some point, won’t step out of line,” Guzun stated.