Justice minister says half of judges should be replaced

The salaries of judges should be increased considerably, the Supreme Court of Justice must be reformed and practically half of the judges should be changed, considers Minister of Justice Alexandru Tanase, Info-Prim Neo reports. In a press briefing held on the occasion of the Jurist's Day marked on October 19, Alexandru Tanase said the salary of a judge should be minimum US$1,500. “Cheap justice costs much more,” he said, stressing Moldova lost many cases at the European Court of Human Rights owing to this 'cheap justice'. The minister stated that the judges, many of whom had been members of the Soviet Communist Party, must be replaced by young specialists. Alexandru Tanase said when he came to the Ministry of Justice he found an institution that was settling accounts for the central administration and working by political order. Due to the implemented reforms, many of the shortcomings of the legal system have been removed. Among the results achieved, the minister mentioned the adoption of the law on advocacy and reformation of the court decision implementation system by making the bailiffs private. As to the failures, the minister said the economic courts have not been yet liquidated, the reorganization of the prosecutor's office is delayed, while the reputation of the prosecutor general has been damaged by statements made by politicians recently.