The justice sector reform and the fight against corruption are the priorities of the current government, while Parliament, the presidential administration and the Government will combine efforts for the purpose, said President Maia Sandu according to whom the justice sector reform will start by removing corrupt judges and prosecutors from the system and by replacing them with professional and upright persons. Moreover, the President said the ruling party will amend the law on the prosecution service so as to assess the activity of the Prosecutor General, IPN reports.
President Sandu noted that immediately after the Cabinet is voted in, the three main state institutions will become functional and the justice sector reform will be launched. The external assessment of judges and prosecutors will enable to clear the system of corrupt elements.
“We start to bring things in order from the upper level. We start to fight grand corruption and upper-level abuses. I expect Parliament and the Government to adopt laws that will enable to launch the justice sector reform so as to remove the corrupt judges and prosecutors. These noxious persons should be removed from the system and at the next stage should be penalized. The second thing that must be done after the capacities of these institutions are increased is to bring new people to the system and to train them rather swiftly,” Maia Sandu stated in the talk show “Shadow Cabinet” on JurnalTV channel.
She criticized the work done by the Prosecutor General, saying that no progress has been made in any of the resonant cases, while the fleeing of the country by controversial businessman Veaceslav Platon is an additional proof of the inefficiency of the Prosecutor General’s Office.
“I appreciate the person by results. In the case of the Prosecutor General, I didn’t see results. On the contrary, reprovable things happened. I refer to the escape of Platon. In the Laundromat case, it’s clear that the prosecutor didn’t do his job, if Platon is not even a suspect in this case. That prosecutor should be investigated and probably penalized for lack of action. PAS will come with a bill to amend the law on the prosecution service so that the law allows for the assessment of the activity of the Prosecutor General. We cannot wait for seven years and to then correct things,” stated Maia Sandu.
According to the government program of the new executive, the priorities in the field of the independence of justice and the fight against corruption include the amendment of the legislation concerning the property of functionaries and civil servants so as to exclude the declaring of property at reduced prices. The punishment for corruption will be made harsher and transparent mechanisms for choosing and appointing members of the Superior Council of Magistracy and the Superior Council of Prosecutors will be introduced.
