The bill to preliminarily assess the integrity of candidates for the post of member of the Superior Council of Magistracy (SCM) and of the Superior Council of Prosecutors (SCP) wasn’t discussed with civil society and with representatives of the judiciary, said anticorruption experts and judges who noted they heard about this bill from press reports. In its opinion, the Venice Commission said consensus about this bill in society should be ensured and clear assessment criteria should be set down. For their part, representatives of the government said this initiative is aimed at clearing the self-governing bodies of corrupt elements, IPN reports.
In accordance with the bill drafted by the Ministry of Justice, the candidates for members of the SCM and SCP will pass an integrity test to see if their property coincides with the declared incomes. The assessment will be carried out by a special commission consisting of national and international experts.
“This bill hasn’t been discussed with anyone. It is upsetting as the politicians do not consider it necessary to discuss it at least with judges. Consultations weren’t held with civil society or with representatives of the system. The problem is the persons were first associated with the captured state and now reforms are expected from them,” anticorruption expert Cristina Țărnă stated in the talk show “Black Box” on TV8 channel.
Judge Ion Chirtoacă said the Venice Commission warned the authorities that this assessment of the candidates for SCM member from among judges should involve all the players, including the opposition Most of the judges heard about this bill from the press. Society didn’t know about it, but the recommendations of the Venice Commission should be taken into account.
Representatives of the government said the recommendations will be taken into consideration and the proposals of the European experts will be included in the text of the law.
“I cannot imagine that Sergiu Litvinenco drafted this bill in secret and then sent it to the Venice Commission. This bill reflects the people’s wish. PAS got 63 seats of MP for doing this reform as the people during 30 years saw that these self-governing bodies, together with those who they manage – I mean the SCM and SCP – never cleaned themselves up. We now started with those who manage these systems,” said PAS MP Vasile Grădinaru.
Earlier, Minister of Justice Sergiu Litvinenco said that this bill should be adopted by Parliament by the end of this year so that an assessment commission can be constituted next January-February. Under the bill, three members of the assessment commission will be named by the Ministry of Justice at the suggestion of the parliamentary groups according to the proportionality principle, while another three members will be designated by Moldova’s development partners.
