The justice sector reform does not end with one change or with a normative document. It is something that happens through generations. There is no recipe for the reform, but there are some common standards that should be met, Romanian judge Cristi Danileț stated in a discussion with Moldovan journalists, IPN reports.

Cristi Danileț noted that the reforms should start from justice: “Corruption swarms primarily in justice. It happens so in a ‘non-reformed’ country. So, the reform should be started there, but it cannot be done overnight. I don’t say all the people need to be removed. They should be educated”.

The Romanian judge said that he saw that the judicial system in Moldova puts up resistance to the reform, arguing it is inappropriate as if the judges want to make laws and to govern the country themselves. The dialogue between the political class and the judiciary is necessary. The justice system cannot fight against the state as it forms part of the state and should act in the interests of the citizens.

According to Cristi Danileț, any reform should start with the acknowledgment of the problems existing in the system. In Moldova, this didn’t happen, but appetite for the justice sector reform will appear only when there are judges who admit that there are corrupt judges, mates who take bribe. “They should discuss about integrity. It is not a shame to say that you are honest, but it is a shame to accept the corrupt ones.”

The Romanian judge also said that the justice sector reform should be a common effort and emphasis should be placed on the quality of people in justice, on their education, not only on criticism leveled at them. “I think when there are corrupt courts, corrupt judges, concrete cases, these should be criticized, not the whole system should be criticized as there are sensible people in the system, who do not want to be treated the same way the corrupt ones are”.

The seminar titled “Republic of Moldova, European Union candidate state” was organized by the Romanian Center for European Policies. The event forms part of the project “Explaining Moldova’s candidate status: providing a monitoring and public debate platform for the pre-accession assistance” that is financed by the Black Sea Trust for Regional Cooperation of the German Marshall Foundation.