The shortage of judges is the main reason for the delay in the examination of cases in court. Acting prosecutor general Ion Munteanu explained that the judges have to examine thousands of criminal and administrative cases and priority is given to the administrative cases as, if these are not dealt with within two months, the judges are punished disciplinarily. For this reason, the criminal cases are delayed in court and society perceives this phenomenon as injustice, IPN reports.

Ion Munteanu said the prosecutors sent to court thousands of criminal cases, many of which were started against corrupt functionaries, but society does not see the end resuts of these cases as they are stagnant due to the shortage of judges. If there are final sentences in many of these cases, the state will obtain millions of lei from confiscation of property.

“The elucidation of cases in court is the top priority. The society’s opinion about impunity is influenced by the endless delay in the examination of criminal cases. You should not think that we have few criminal cases involving functionaries that are pending in court. Over 5,000 cases are pending at the Buiucani Court and 1,000 of them are criminal cases of the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office and PCCOCS. Many of them are high-profile cases. The confiscated property in the cases of the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office and PCCOCS alone is valued at over 330 million lei. This is money that the state should ultimately collect. There are also the penalties in the form of fines,” Ion Munteanu stated in the talk show “Reflection Points” on Vocea Basarabiei station.

The acting prosecutor general said the judges give priority to the administrative cases that must be examined during two months as the face disciplinary punishment otherwise.

“That’s why we are still waiting for convictions in cases of corruption. About 6,000 administrative cases and 5,000 criminal cases are pending at the Buiucani Court. But there are only 30 judges who work daily,” noted Ion Munteanu, adding that less serious cases of corruption have been waiting to be settled since 2015.

Ion Munteanu was named acting prosecutor general by a decree issued by President Maia Sandu on October 12. Earlier, Ion Munteanu held the post of acting deputy chief prosecutor general of the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office.