The law that introduces the mechanism for assessing the activity of the prosecutor general was promulgated by President Maia Sandu. The official said the criticism leveled by civil society and the opposition, which described this law as attack on the independence of the prosecution service, is unfounded. She noted the goal of this law is to start to build authentic rule of law, with a prosecution service that is not dependent on criminal groups, IPN reports.
President Maia Sandu said the amendments made by the Party of Action and Solidarity to the law on the prosecution service are designed not to subjugate the Prosecutor General’s Office e to a political party, but to free it from the captivity of criminal groups.
“I already promulgated the law. We now do not have rule of law for civil society to come and say that we encroach on the independence of a state with the rule of law. We are at the stage when we must build the rule of law. We should build it first and will then make sure that it is not at the beck and call of politicians and is not politically influenced. We now have the remains of Plahontiuc’s system, with judges and prosecutors who form part of criminal groups,” Maia Sandu stated in the talk show “In Depth” on ProTV Chisinau channel.
The official noted the government learns from Romania’s experience in building the rule of law and PAS is ready to assume political responsibility for this reform.
“We are not at the stage when we should protect the system. We are at the stage when we need to clean it. In Romania, the minister of justice assumed responsibility and named prosecutors at NAD and the building of an independent institution started from there. Monica Macovei appointed those prospectors so as to be able to manage them as she is an honest person and wasn’t afraid of independent prosecutors. The same refers to us. We do not want a prosecution service dependent on us. We want a prosecution service that is not dependent on criminal groups,” stated Maia Sandu.
The amendments made to the law on the prosecution service introduce a mechanism for assessing the activity of the prosecutor general by constituting an evaluation commission. If the commission describes the prosecutor general’s activity as “unsatisfactory”, the Superior Council of Prosecutors will propose that the President should dismiss this. By a bill, PAS also modified the composition of the Superior Council of Prosecutors, reducing the number of members from 15 to 12 by excluding the prosecutor general, the prosecutor of ATU Gagauzia and the chairperson of the Lawyers Union.
