With positive and negative moments, 2021 is coming to an end and what it generated leaves an imprint on the destiny of the person, family, the country. IPN spoke with those who care and have what to say about victories and failures, hopes and letdowns, achievements and losses. How 2021 was for the woman and judge Victoria Sanduța.
2021 was a full year for judge Victoria Sanduța, both from personal and from professional viewpoints. She worked a lot, in parts with emotional exhaustion, with periods during which she was even thinking about resigning, with moments when she doubted her own forces and her mission. She said she didn’t make this part of her life public as the life of a judge is anyway in sight. No matter where she is, she must not forget that she is a judge. “I can take off my gown to remain naked literally and figuratively only in the bedroom.”
The post of judger is testing, but is assumed. The people expect a judge to be upright, devoted, responsible. There is no place for weakness and lamentation. The people want a judge to be ideal, no less. And these expectations are felt, even if they are not said. The pressure is enormous, but is again assumed consciously. “You believe in you and in the values you have. The goal is above you and above what is there around you because you also have an ideal and this refers not to your future or to the future of you children, but to the future of your grandchildren’s grandchildren. Yes, I want the grandchildren of my grandchildren to live under the rule of law, to be dignified, respected and valued in a society in which the law and also love are the most powerful weapons. I accept both of the variants of such a future,” said judge Victoria Sanduța.
In 2021, she offered a lot of energy to the people around. She grew professionally and personally too. Each day, she likes to learn something new, to do new things and to know new people and the people again. She does not have a list with wishes for 2022. She is grateful for what she has here and now. “I do what I can here and now. Tomorrow is unpredictable and I’m curious to meet it. I want peace and prosperity for us all in 2022. I wish there is increased tolerance for people, towards characters and towards “screwy” (read ”innovative”) ideas. I want more color and light to exist, not only white and black. I want power and patience, luck and health, love and enthusiasm. This is what I wish you all”.
As to the professional aspect, 2021 brought dismissals of judges, not all of which were reasonable, and abuses on the part of the Superior Council of Magistracy whose members extended the own tenures for an indefinite period of time. “Something like this happened to the judiciary in December 2021. They pulled the curtains and turned off the light.”
According to the judge, the adoption of the bill to amend the Constitution’s provisions concerning the judiciary, namely the exclusion of the five-year trial period on the appointment of judges, is a really beneficial and important change for the future state Republic of Moldova with the rule of law. The election of Diana Scobioală, who was her teacher and mentor, as judge of the European Court of Human Rights on behalf of the Republic of Moldova, is another positive event.
The year also brought gray clouds. The former president of the Superior Council of Magistracy Dumitru Visternicean died. “He was my teacher and was a very valuable person with a strong sense of justice that he managed to transmit to his pupils,” stated Victoria Sanduța.
In December, the Judges’ Association “Voice of Justice” that she leads managed to send to the Venice Commission the opinion about some of the measures related to the selection (assessment) of candidates for posts in the self-governing bodies of judges and prosecutors. The opinion was heard and remembered by the Commission. She is hopeful the judges will also be consulted about the given law, not only the Superior Council of Magistracy. According to her, this matters a lot in an authentic democratic society with the rule of law.
Victoria Sanduța started her career in justice in October 2009. She was named judge in March 2017, one day after she turned 30. Together with judges Marina Curtiș and Ion Malanciuc, in August 2019 she founded the Judges’ Association “Voice of Justice” so as to promote freedom, to strengthen democracy, to support the rule of law and good governance and to promote and defend the basic human rights and freedoms in the Republic of Moldova. In September 2019, Victoria Sanduța joined the National Network for Legal Education.
