The justice sector reform continues to be the key element of the required transformations. The speed at which the Republic of Moldova will become a fully-fledged member of the European Union and at which a strong and inclusive economy will be built depends on the success of this reform. The stake of this reform remains very great, President Maia Sandu stated in the opening of the Justice Sector Reform and Corruption Fighting Forum 2022, IPN reports.
“That’s why we will further insist on this reform no matter how big the technical problems, resistance to change or the sabotage in the system are. The reform started but things move too slowly despite the political will to build an authentic justice system and strong corruption fighting institutions,” stated Maia Sandu.
The official noted that the judges and prosecutors today are free to do their job honestly and no one from the government threatens them, demanding that they should take illegal decisions. “They are free to apply the law, to do justice. Regrettably, a part of them continue to perceive freedom as a possibility of doing what they want – to commit abuses, to negotiate decisions so as to obtain undue gains after passing illegal judgments or delaying taking decisions. A part of the people from the system do not want to understand that independence goes hand in hand with responsibility, while the corrupt persons from the system continue to represent the biggest obstacle to the reform,” stated President Sandu.
She said that time can no longer be lost by waiting for all the justice sector players to become conscious. The system should be urgently cleaned and the extraordinary external assessment commission consisting of national and foreign experts will help to do this. At the first stage, this cleaning will cover the future candidates for members of the Superior Council of Magistracy and the Superior Council of Prosecutors, while later those from the Supreme Court of Justice. New SCM and SCP must be constituted by the end of this year.
“I’m very concerned about the delay in examining important cases in court, including cases concerning significant financial resources and public property. Today, this behavior of unjustified delay or adoption of illegal decisions with suspicion of obtaining of undue gains is not penalized by anyone. The internal bodies of the judicial system are unable to impose penalties, while the prosecution service, despite the suspicions existing with regard to some of the judges, didn’t manage to penalize at least one judge so as to transmit a powerful signal to the system, that corruption is punished,” stated Maia Sandu.
