Advocacy will be reformed fundamentally, minister of justice

The Bar will be reformed fundamentally, Minister of Justice Alexandru Tanase said during a roundtable meeting with members of the Investigative Journalists Club, Info-Prim Neo reports. “There is yet a lot of work to do until advocacy becomes functional,” he said. “We can criticize the lawyers as it would be a naivety to think that the work of the lawyers in a country where things stand so bad can be ideal. But it is important that we look at the things from an institutional perspective and understand the causes of such a state of affairs,” Tanase said. According to him, the advocacy in the Soviet period and during the Communist rule was the evil without which the governments could not do. “The state did not pay adequate attention to the Bar. No reform was initiated to strengthen advocacy. Nobody needed a functional institution,” the minister said. A bill was drafted to essentially transform the Bar. It was accepted by the Government and the relevant parliamentary commission and approved of by the Supreme Council of Magistrates and a series of international organizations with which the Ministry of Justice cooperates. “We intend to bring things in order. We will set up regional offices and will impose quality standards in advocacy,” Tanase said, assuring that the reform of the Bar will produce visible results. The minister also said that the former prosecutors and judges will not be allowed to go into the Bar without exam. He stressed he also questions the competency of the police officers who want to become judges.