Prosecutor general and justice minister should be excluded from SCM, experts
- 26.02.2013 09:13
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The reform in the justice sector must be aimed at obtaining the institutional and personal independence of the judiciary by integrating the judges and making them more responsible. The current reform should reduce to a minimum the structural influence of the executive, especially by excluding the minister of justice and the prosecutor general from the Supreme Council of Magistrates (SCM), consider foreign experts who analyzed the implementation of the justice reform in Moldova, Info-Prim Neo reports.
The experts form part of the International Commission of Jurists and had been in Moldova last autumn. The report they made public recently says that the authorities should make additional effort so as to correctly implement the reform. The measures to deal with judicial corruption involving private individuals should be completed by an action against forms of corruption and other types of unwanted influence exerted by the executive.
According to the experts, the low percentage of acquittals in Moldova points to a disproportionate influence of the prosecutors on judges. Another indicator of the susceptibility of judges to unwanted influence is the low percentage of convictions for torture at a time when a very high number of complaints to the ECHR concern the use of torture in Moldova.
The International Commission of Jurists is concerned about the impact of the changes to the Civil Procedure Code by which the requirement for judges in the lower courts to provide motivation for their decisions in civil lawsuits is eliminated. The experts consider that this change affects the legal system’s capacity to ensure efficient protection of the people’s right to a fair trial. This change should be monitored and abrogated if it causes difficulties as regards access to justice.
