Civil Council for Monitoring CCCEC will not tolerate interference in its activity. Info-Prim Neo interview with Mircea Esanu, secretary of the Anticorruption Alliance

At its last week meeting, the Government approved the creation of the Civil Council for Monitoring the Center for Combating Corruption and Economic Crime (CCCEC). The executive recommended the Anticorruption Alliance, which brings together a number of NGOs, to organize a contest to select candidates that want to form part of the Council within a month. [ - Mr Esanu, what does a civil council need to monitor the work of the CCCEC?] - This Council is what the Americans and Europeans call control over the law enforcement agencies. The Council will aim at preventing the deviations in the CCCEC’s work. When the legislation is violated, a group of professionals should analyze the correctness of the given institution’s activity according to certain methods and make the results of the investigation public. It is the first experience and the Council will undoubtedly make progress in time. [ - The CCCEC was frequently accused of violating the legislation. Is this the reason for the institution of civil monitoring? - There were scandalous cases when the CCCEC was accused of fabricating political cases, but the Anticorruption Alliance could not verify because there is no access to such information. So, we cannot say that CCCEC committed deviations in its work. However, the civil society questions the accuracy of this institution. There are two institutions that can check the CCCEC: the parliamentary commissions that superficially examine the deviations from the legislation, and the Audit Office, which monitors how this institution manages the money. The Prosecutor’s Office can be involved in verifications only when certain violations are identified. [ - What duties will the Civil Code have?] - Until present, the civil society had the right to check the cases after they were examined by the court and after the court passed judgment. The Civil Council will be able to monitor the administrative, operational ands personnel policies. It will receive notifications from the people and remit them to the relevant authorities. It will also analyze the reports on the disciplinary sanctions used by the CCCEC and the information from other institutions about corruption cases committed by employees of the CCCEC. [ - Can the Civil Council be considered an independent instrument given that it will include a person from the Government’s Apparatus appointed by the Prime Minister?] - The Civil Council will be headed by a representative of the civil society that will be only confirmed by the Government. Not the Government, but the members of the Council will choose the secretary. The Government will only confirm the candidate and will finance this institution. If the Government does not approve of the person proposed for the post of secretary, the civil society will react promptly and will not allow the executive to control this independent institution. [- How will the Council’s members be remunerated?] - If we want a functional Council, it should possess certain financial resources that are needed in the daily work. The Council’s members will work on a voluntary basis. Only the ordinary and extraordinary meetings will be paid. They will be remunerated in the same way as the municipal councilors - 10% of the average salary of a civil servant for a meeting day.