Judiciary’s budget to be adopted by Parliament, incorporated into State Budget

Starting 2009, the budget of the judicial system will have to pass through Parliament and then will be incorporated into the State Budget, Info-Prim Neo reports, citing the Parliament’s press service. The legislature will apply this procedure in order to meet the constitutional requirements, which prescribe that the financial resources available to courts shall be approved by the Parliament and included in the State Budget. Within two months, the Higher Magistracy Council and the Ministry of Justice shall work out a draft budget of the judicial system for 2009 and submit it to the Parliament for consideration. The Parliament, in turn, will adopt, until the end of the spring-summer session, the decision on the budget of the judicial system for 2009, and then the amount approved by the legislature will be included by the Government into the Draft State Budget for the next year. According to Speaker Marian Lupu, the application of this constitutional provision comes to support the legislative reforms adopted in the recent years by the Parliament and aims to ensure the continuity of the efforts made to strengthen the independence, autonomy and professionalism of the Moldovan judiciary.