To be a guarantor of the independence of judges, the Superior Council of Magistracy (SCM) should be independent, said experts invited to the talk show “Black box” on TV8 channel, IPN reports.

Tatiana Raducanu, ex-judge at the Supreme Court of Justice, said she does not believe that things will change much at the SCM. The programs of the candidates for member of the Council weren’t published and suspicions that something is hidden appear thus. “There should be no suspicions. Everything should be transparent,” stated Tatiana Raducanu.

Nadejda Hriptievski, programs director at the Legal Resources Center of Moldova, said she doubts that each of the almost 400 judges know the eight candidates for SCM member. “The attempt not to publish the list of candidates for me is a sign of the non-openness of the legal system to society and to judges as well,” she stated.

Superior Council of Magistracy member Teodor Carnat noted that the Council followed the regulations when it decided not to publish information about the candidates. Earlier, the candidates’ data and programs were made public three days before the General Assembly of Judges. “This was the procedure for selecting the old candidates, but I’m glad that the current administration of the SCM listened to the voice of the mass media, nongovernmental organizations and Council members and ultimately published the list of candidates for SCM members,” he said.

The list of candidates for the post of SCM member was published on October 5, almost a month of the deadline for submissions, but their CVs and programs weren’t made public.