President Maia Sandu stated today that the external evaluation of judges and prosecutors must continue. Parliament should intervene to set relatively short deadlines – six months – for swiftly considering political corruption cases and addressing the ongoing justice reform.
In a news conference, Maia Sandu acknowledged the citizens’ frustration with the slow pace of change in the justice sector and the limited actions taken to combat corruption.
“We don’t have direct ways to intervene, and indirect methods sometimes work and sometimes don’t. Much depends on the courage of those who must fight this battle. Regarding justice, we must continue the external extraordinary evaluation. We’ve made good progress in removing the most corrupt individuals from the system. Over 60 judges have left the system, but we face more significant issues with the external evaluation of prosecutors. Prosecutors from the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office (PA) have shown little willingness to undergo this evaluation,” Sandu said.
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The President emphasized that citizens expect final decisions on major corruption and political corruption cases, which have harmed Moldova’s image and affected every citizen individually.
“The government does not settle cases. Governance cannot speed up the examination of these cases or handle them correctly and legally. At the last meeting of the Supreme Security Council, I proposed that Parliament intervene and establish shorter deadlines by law. We discussed six-month deadlines for political corruption cases to avoid the delays we’ve seen, where courts fail to make decisions or the prosecutor’s office stalls proceedings. In these cases, we often see files gathering dust for years or lawyers using every trick to delay decisions. So, we need legal measures, within the limits of the law and Constitution, to speed up the examination of these cases,” Sandu explained.
She noted that the Prosecutor General, the heads of specialized prosecutor’s offices, and the Superior Council of Prosecutors (CSP) are responsible for the speed and quality of the prosecutor’s office’s work on cases.
“There is also the Superior Council of Magistracy (CSM), which should act on its initiative. We have a reformed CSM with members who have passed the extraordinary external evaluation. Those who commit abuses must face consequences, and the government has indirect ways to intervene. One of which is the proposed amendment to the law to shorten case consideration periods. I hope Parliament will approve this as soon as possible,” Sandu said.
In the European Council’s conclusions, approved on December 17 in Brussels, the European institution urged Moldova to continue advancing justice reform and combat corruption.
“Building on the significant progress achieved, Moldova should continue advancing comprehensive justice reform, including the vetting process, and strengthen its efforts to fight corruption, focusing on consolidating relevant institutions. The Council welcomes Moldova’s systemic approach to de-oligarchization and encourages continued implementation of the related action plan,” the document states.