The Superior Council of Prosecutors (CSP) does not support the Justice Ministry's proposal to supplement the Council composition with three more members, because the autonomy of the system and the representation ratio of members are violated. On the other hand, government representatives maintain that today urgent changes are required to restore the rule of law in the country. Different opinions have been expressed during the consultation meeting on the amendments to the Law on the Prosecutor's Office, organized by the Ministry of Justice, IPN reports.
Angela Motuzoc, CSP head, says that the increase in the number of members does not comply with the constitutional provisions. The practice of different countries shows that representatives of civil society do not enter in as large a number as it is proposed in the Republic of Moldova. At the same time, she states that the Minister of Justice and the Chairman of the Superior Council of Magistracy continue to be ex officio members of the CSP, contrary to international recommendations.
With reference to the proposal that Lawyers Union’s chairman should become an ex officio member, Mircea Roşioru, deputy Prosecutor general, said that, according to international recommendations, a lawyer and not the Union’s chairman must be appointed to the CSP. According to him, the two new members proposed by the civil society must be representatives of profile organizations, but not persons exercising public functions.
Eduard Bulat, prosecutor within the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office, maintains that not only sanctioning, mentioned by the government, is important for things to go well in the system but also revising the existing evaluation system, which allows a subjective assessment of prosecutors. “Sanctioning and evaluation build the culture and behaviour of employees. This was the biggest omission that generated that behaviour, "said Eduard Bulat.
Emanoil Ploșniță, chairman of the Lawyers Union, said that he did not agree with the statement regarding the independence of the prosecutor's office, but supported the principle of the prosecutor's independence while carrying out the criminal prosecution. In the opinion of Emanoil Ploșniță, the new proposals come to solve the extraordinary situation created in the prosecution system. "In the current government’s situation, I would have appointed a prosecutor with special powers," said the chairman of the Lawyers Union.
Attending the event, Prime Minister Maia Sandu said that the government would not intervene today in the legislation if things worked out. Although it had enough time to show that it can carry out its functions and cleanse the system of vulnerable people, who performed political functions, the CSP has not shown that it could cope with the required tasks. "You have shown that you have not cleansed the system, that is why we bring people from outside the CSP. It was insisted on the autonomy of the system, avoiding its cleansing,” said Maia Sandu.
Fadei Nagacevschi, the legal adviser to the Speaker of the Parliament, Zinaida Greceanii, said that it was a mistake to grant independence to the prosecutor's office. Since 2016, things have deteriorated severely in the system. The Republic of Moldova is a developing country, and the prosecutor's office was granted independence prematurely. In the lawyer’s opinion, currently the prosecutor's office of the Republic of Moldova needs a political control in order to solve the problems of citizens.
The Minister of Justice, Olesea Stamate, said that new amendments to the Law on the Prosecutor's Office are proposed, so that the Prosecutor General could be elected by the CSP based on a short list proposed by the Ministry of Justice. Two to three candidates from this list are to be selected on competition basis by a commission consisting of a former judge and a former prosecutor, the minister of justice, a representative of civil society and a psychologist. Those selected will be proposed to the CSP. It is proposed to eliminate the mandatory criterion of five years' experience in the prosecutor's offices for the candidate for the position of Prosecutor General, the criterion being replaced by five years of experience as prosecutor, judge or lawyer. At the same time, it is proposed to supplement the number of CSP members with two more representatives of civil society plus the chair of Lawyers Union.
