The Republic of Moldova during the last ten years ranked below the average level in terms of advancing of the rule of law. In 2011, the country undertook to do a set of reforms so as to ensure the observance of the basic human rights and the democratic principles. Beyond the made progress, the democracy index shows a situation similar to the advancing of the rule of law, the Republic of Moldova here ranking also beyond the average level on the path of democracy, lawyer Irina Buzu, author of the study “Role of civil society in advancing the rule of law and justice sector reform”, which was carried out by the Public Association “INVENTO” in 2018-2021, stated in a news conference at IPN.
In the reformation of the justice sector, the Republic of Moldova went through a complex process. The problems related to justice and the rule of law, the functioning of democratic institutions, political instability and respect for governance in 2019 were among the main factors that determined the political dialogue between the Republic of Moldova and the European Union. The EU reassessed its relationship with the Republic of Moldova, encouraging the Government to continue the initiated reforms, consistently applying the principle of strict conditionality.
However, the NGO sector in this situation expressed its concern about the pace of doing reforms that are strategic for the Republic of Moldova. In the sixth meeting of the National Platform of the Eastern Partnership Civic Society Forum, it was noted that in five years of the signing of the Association Agreement with the EU, visible results were achieved as regards border security, energy interconnection, mobility of persons. But there are areas in which changes are not felt even if the legislation was amended. These include the justice sector reform, the fight against corruption and democratization process, stated Irina Buzu.
The study author said that a series of priorities related to the budding of the rule of law, strengthening of the judiciary and the fight against corruption didn’t seem to be as important for the government and this generated concern. Then, the Head of the EU Delegation to Moldova in that period Peter Michalko said the European Union wanted to see political will and concrete actions in such areas as democracy, the mass media, political pluralism and civil society participation.
“The partial and summary diagnosis and the selective treatment of systemic problems can only increase distrust in the justice sector reform and the fight against corruption,” said Irina Buzu.
Ana Îndoitu, director of the Public Association “INVENTO”, noted that the discussions on how civil society leaves an imprint on the transformation of the Republic of Moldova are debates in which all the involved partners, both the state and civil society, are sufficiently willing to learn about the critical points and the way in which efficient formats should be built from the start, when we aim to have an ambitious and, eventually, urgent agenda for a state to develop healthily.
