Vitalie Nagacevschi: There is a tacit agreement between government and judiciary

There is a silent agreement between the government and the judiciary in Moldova. Judges satisfy the interests of the government officials in exchange for the promise that they will not get punished for bribery, says Vitalie Nagacevschi, the president of the organisation “Lawyers for Human Rights”. Nagacevschi told a press conference themed “Judges in Moldova misuse their authority” that the illegal judgments are whether the result of an authoritative indication or a manifestation of money talking. The most obedient judges get the most sensitive cases. The others get cases that are not so politically or financially important, Nagacevschi asserted. When asked about the measures to be taken in order to improve the situation, Nagacevschi said no universal solution exists. According to the lawyer, one of the solutions is to change the government, but what is really important is that the judges become personally responsible for making decisions. Nagacevschi mentioned that “telephone justice” was quite common before the communists took power, but never so noticeable and frequent as today. The lawyer also believes that every case lost by Moldova at the European Court of Human Rights must by thoroughly examined by the Superior Council of Magistracy, which should formulate recommendations and make them public. In this case it will be much harder to hush up the cases damaging Moldova’s image and causing losses to its budget, the lawyer concluded.