Procedure for dismissing CCCEC director may be toughened up

Experts monitoring the reformation of the Center for Combating Economic Crime and Corruption (CCCEC) suggest strengthening the institution’s independence within the Government or making it a subdivision of Parliament. They also propose modifying the procedure for naming and firing the Center’s director. “The candidate for director should be fielded by the head of state or legislative body and by the Prime Minister. The dismissal procedure should be toughened up so that the director could be fired not only by the person who named it, but also with the consent of other bodies,” jurist Cristina Cojocaru, national expert in this process, told Info-Prim Neo. According to Cristina Cojocaru, the dismissal procedure should be based on clear principles. No final solution was yet identified. The proposals are only part of a strategy. As to the candidate for the post of CCCEC director, he should be politically unaffiliated and meet a number of criteria. The preliminary strategy for reforming the CCCEC was presented to representatives of civil society by Przemiyslaw K. Musialkowski, adviser on the Center’s reformation on behalf of the EU Mission for Counseling in Public Policies for Moldova and national experts, in concert with the CCCEC. Until it is submitted to Parliament, it should be approved by civil society as the NGOs that monitor the work of the Center know things very well. The draft strategy for reforming the CCCEC includes a number of recommendations how to create the legal framework for governing the activity of the institution and how to provide guarantees for ensuring the Center’s independence and control on the part of society.