Pre-vetting is an extremely difficult exercise that cannot be done in a hurry, said the member of the pre-vetting commission Nadejda Hriptievschi. According to her, all the commission members lay emphasis on the quality of the process, not on speed and the initial time limit of December 31, 2022 wasn’t met therefore. The international members of the commission assured that the assessment is correct and transparent and if there are conflicts of interest between a commission member and an assessed candidate, the member is replaced, IPN reports.
The pre-vetting commission started work in April 2022. The commission members admit that the assessment process lasts longer than it was initially planned, but assure that they put emphasis on quality in the working process, not on speed.
“If such an exercise is done in a hurry, there are big risks of making mistakes. This exercise is conducted in the Republic of Moldova for the first time and all the working instruments were designed from scratch as we didn’t copy a model. Furthermore, there were big reservations about this commission initially. It was rather hard to employ members of the secretariat and it lasted longer than we projected,” Nadejda Hriptievschi stated in the program “Good Evening” on the public TV channel.
Under the law, the decisions of the pre-vetting commission can be challenged in the Supreme Court of Justice. Members of the commission said most of those who fail the integrity and professionalism test dispute the decision. The Supreme Court of Justice can order a reexamination and the candidates hope the decision will be modified.
“We ask for information from the Cadaster, banks, the Superior Council of Magistracy and the Superior Council of Prosecutors, which provide us with information about the disciplinary cases involving candidates,” said Nadejda Hriptievschi, noting that in total, 18 judge candidates and four non-judge candidates challenged the commission’s decisions.
The international jurists who form part of the commission assured that the national members of the commission cannot favor particular candidates and the persons in conflicts of interest are excluded from the examination process.
“Moldova is a small country. Three members of the commission do not know anyone from here, but the situation for the national members is different. That’s why we apply a mechanism by which any involved person can declare a potential conflict of interest. The disqualified member does not take part in voting. The replaced member also does not take part in deliberations or any kind of discussions. That member’s access throughout the case examination period is restricted,” said pre-vetting commission member Victoria Henley.
The pre-vetting commission consists of six members appointed by Parliament, three of whom were proposed by the international development partners that offer assistance to Moldova. The pre-vetting commission members are: Herman von Hebel (the Netherlands), Victoria Henley (the U.S.), Nadejda Hriptievschi (Moldova), Vitalie Miron (Moldova), Tatiana Răducanu (Moldova) and Nona Tsotoria (Georgia).
