Interior Ministry officers blame prosecutors for delay in examination of criminal cases

The unclear delimitation of powers between prosecutors and prosecution officers of the Ministry of the Interior in the prosecution process lead to delayed examination of the criminal cases and late remitting of the cases to courts, the head of the Ministry’s Prosecution Department Gheorghe Malic said in the quarterly meeting of the institution, Info-Prim Neo reports. “Until the modification of the legislation on penal procedure in 2003, a simple case when the person was identified was sent to court within five days. Today, the prosecutor issued an accusation order over a simple case of document falsification, when a person obtained a loan from a bank last November, on May 28, but it has not been yet submitted to court,” said Gheorghe Malic, adding the prosecutors try to control the prosecution officers. He also said that in the criminal cases that involve prosecutors and prosecution officers, the first are given priority. “Eleven prosecution officers were held accountable during the first six months of this year. An analysis showed that the money was in fact intended for the prosecutors, not the prosecution officers. The prosecution officers were investigated and charged, while the prosecutor’s were not. A corporate chain was created to protect the prosecutors,” said Gheorghe Malic. Earlier this year, a working group was created at the Government’s request to delimit the powers in the prosecution process. The group, set up in the context of the justice reform, has not yet presented a final report on the work done.