Judicial System continues to be affected by political pressures

The Judicial System continues to suffer from political pressures, as the government keeps controlling the appointment and advancement of judges – these are the findings of an independent report on the results of the two-year implementation of the Action Plan Moldova-EU within the European Neighbourhood Policy. According to the report, the appointment of judges by the President/Parliament should be just a mechanism aimed at verifying the selection procedures, but not a new selection procedure. The disqualification of candidates should be based on exhaustive and transparent arguments, in order to exclude potential pressures and corruption in the appointment process. According to the report’s authors, the competences granted to the Prosecutor’s Office concerning the interference in the civil relations are excessively wide, while its independency has to be strengthened, by reducing the capacity of other state institutions to participate in the appointment of its leadership. It is necessary to limit the right of the Prosecutor’s Office to restart proceedings against the same persons for the same actions, which could reduce potential blackmailing of public persons. As the report mentions, the fight against corruption has a selective character and it does not affect the high officials allied with the government, the members and the persons close to the Communist Party or families of government leaders, despite documented proofs which reveal the differences between the wages they receive and the style of life and properties they own. According to the report, it is necessary to fully inform the public about all the corruption cases, as well as to examine the causes which do not allow penalising the guilty persons (superficial investigation, political orders, pressure on judges or other representatives of the law enforcement bodies). It is necessary to reform significantly the Intelligence Service and the Ministry of Internal Affairs by demilitarising and ensuring a proper parliamentary and civil control, in order to exclude cases when civil and political rights are violated. The report was worked out by the representatives of 13 organisations, within the “Euroforum” framework for cooperation and consultation, initiated by the European Initiatives Project of Soros-Moldova Foundation.