The Venice Commission in its plenary session of March 16-17 issued a positive appraisal of the amendment of the Constitution of the Republic of Moldova so as to modify the initial period for appointing judges and for selecting the judges of the Supreme Court of Justice and to specify the composition and powers of the Superior Council of Magistracy, IPN reports.

Noting that the proposed changes meet the applied standards, the experts prognosticated a rise in the level of independence, responsibility and efficiency of the judicial system. In particular, it was noted the elimination of the trial period for judges, appointment of the Supreme Court of Justice judges by the President, instead of Parliament, who can reject the proposed candidate only once, regulation of immunity aspects at constitutional level, highlighting of the Superior Council of Magistracy’s role in planning the budget of the judicial system.

At the same time, the Venice Commission considers the methods of naming judges on the Superior Council of Magistracy and of choosing Council members from among law professors proposed by civil society are not well explained. Not less important is the mention that the effect of the amendments will depend on the way in which they are put into practice at legislative level.

It should be noted that the Moldovan authorities agreed on the given amendments in accordance with the national action plan for implementing the Moldova – EU Association Agreement during 2017-2019.