The justice sector reform is a process that cannot be done in a year or two, while the promises concerning the swift reformation of the judiciary are utopian. However, as a result of the snap parliamentary elections, the Republic of Moldova has a unique chance to start clearing the system of corrupt elements through the external assessment of prosecutors and judges. The opinions were formulated in the program “Black Box” on TV8 channel, IPN reports.
Jurist Nicolae Eșanu, former secretary of state at the Ministry of Justice, said the justice sector reform is a long-lasting process and the current politicians will meet with considerable opposition on the part of the system. Furthermore, the justice sector reform should start from the legislative processes.
“The judicial system can be helped by the political class, but any hurry will end with failure. If we expect that the judiciary will be reformed in a year or two, we will be very disappointed. Those who consider that we can have two parallel worlds with a justice system that works and with a nonfunctional Parliament and Government are wrong. As long as Parliament avoids the law, the Constitution, common sense to achieve a goal, no matter how noble this is, the judiciary will receive the signal that nothing has changed,” stated Nicolae Eșanu.
According to Nadejda Hriptievschi, of the Legal Resourced Center from Moldova, there is political will to start to reform the justice sector. The external assessment of judges and prosecutors should be the first step in this direction.
“It is a historical period. Two very important moments appeared – a parliamentary majority that made the justice sector reform a priority and judges who started to want the change. We have now a unique chance to see the reform propelled from inside and also with the support of politicians. This external assessment is called “external” because there will be elements from outside the judicial system, but the participation of the system remains essential,” said jurist Nadejda Hriptievschi.
According to the electoral program of the Party of Action and Solidarity, the law on the external assessment of judges and prosecutors will be approved by the current parliamentary majority in a priority regime. The assessment will be carried out by a commission consisting of national and international experts, former judges, prosecutors with an irreproachable reputation, based on such criteria as professionalism and integrity.
