Lawyers criticize the draft law that will allow the MPs to become lawyers without taking an exam and say that if an MP is a professional, passing the exam will not be a problem for this. According to the lawyers contacted by IPN, the goal of the initiative is not to remove monopoly on advocacy, but to actually provide benefits to state officials.

Lawyer Victor Pantaru said the arguments on which this amendment is based are not generated by a social situation that should be remedied and are not related to an injustice or a legislative gap. “It is simply an interest of some persons who are unable to learn and to pass exams. For any person who is well trained and is confident in his forces, passing an exam to show knowledge is not a problem,” he stated.

Victor Pantaru also said it’s not clear why we should build gates to enter the yard of advocacy when there is a door that should be used by everyone, following particular stages. If these stages are passed, the person becomes a lawyer. If not, any person who graduates from a law faculty can also become a notary, bailiff, prosecutor or judge.

According to him, judging by the quality of legislative work, some of the MPs do not deserve their seats. As regards the arguments provided by MP Sergiu Sarbu, Victor Pantaru said these are beyond any criticism as a law cannot be modified for 10-20 persons and regulations are needed in a situation with impact on society.

Contacted by IPN, director of the Legal Resources Center Vladislav Gribincea said the key objective of such an initiative is not to remove monopoly on advocacy, but to give concessions to state functionaries. “I saw nowhere MPs obtaining a license of lawyer automatically. There is a big difference between making a law and defending a case in court. If the MPs is good, this will not meet with difficulties in passing an exam,” he stated.

“If Mister Sarbu wants to say that the practice when non-jurists represented persons in court was good, this is not really so. The quality was worse. On the other hand, this mechanism benefitted not ordinary people, but companies and this led to grater tax evasion and undermined advocacy. If the lawyers had been united, such initiatives wouldn’t have appeared,” said Vladislav Gribincea.

Lawyer Eduard Digore expressed his indignation at this initiative, saying what several MPs try to do is something scandalous. In a posting on his Facebook webpage, Eduard Digore says the profession of lawyer is exercised by qualified persons who defend the interests of clients. “How can one intervene in defending the legitimate rights, freedoms and interests of a person in the absence of qualifications and law expertise?” he asked.

Current and former MPs, who are jurists by profession, could obtain the license of lawyer without taking the qualification exam, which is mandatory for any jurist. The proposal was submitted by a group of MPs who represent different groups last yearend. Democratic MP Sergiu Sarbu, who is not among the bill authors, but is a jurist, said this way the MPs, who are jurists by profession, will be able to gratis defend the rights of those who delegated them to work in Parliament. Moreover, the bill significantly extends the compatibilities with the post of lawyer. Sergiu Sarbu considers this bill puts right a serious mistake made in 2012, when advocacy was monopolized by one union of lawyers.