Judges failed to publish income declarations

Judges in Moldova failed to publish their declarations of income and property in spite of a legal deadline which expired on March 3; nine members of Parliament always failed to do so, shows a report by the Independent Press Association. Ecaterina Buzu, a top official at the Superior Magistracy Council, says that the declarations will become available as soon as the Central Control Commission processes them and removes some personal data. This will take some 2 to 3 more weeks. As of today, the Parliament's official website contained all the MPs' declarations except for nine, and namely those belonging to Iurie Apostolachi, Victor Bodiu, Iurie Chiorescu, Simion Grisciuc, Maria Nasu, Gheorghe Brasovschi, Stella Jantuan, Oleg Sarbu and Vladimir Saharneanu. The unsuccessful MPs claimed they had submitted their statements to be posted on the Parliament's website, however the staff responsible for the Parliament's information operations say they didn't receive any such declarations from the Central Control Commission. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Justice has proposed a new mechanism for the verification of the dignitaries' declarations under the supervision of an Ethics Commission, which is yet to be established. If the initiative is approved in Parliament, this new autonomous body will replace the Central Control Commission as the penalties for the failure to present the declarations will become harsher.