Nadejda Hriptievski, jurist of the Legal Resources Center, said the situation in the justice sector in Moldova is now much worse than the previous years. According to her, the last report by the United States Department of State on Moldova is very rich in examples that point to the public authorities’ very selective attitude to a lot of things, IPN reports.
“I think the report signals a lot of fear and the harassment of people who do not agree with the authorities. Reference is made to the political opponents and the mass media,” the jurist stated in the talk show “Expertise house” on Jurnal TV channel.
According to former judge Domnica Manole, the Superior Council of Magistracy does not perform its duties to self-manage the judicial system and to defend the independence of the judiciary. “The Council turned into a body that exerts pressure on judges. The Council members are the Sword of Damocles that stays above the judges and that in most of the cases created the state of fear that persists in the judicial system,” she stated, noting there is no internal will among judges either.
Former director of the National Anticorruption Center Cristina Țărnă said the judges enjoy the independence needed to work on paper only. There is a general problem related to public communication as most of the public institutions go through a period of self-isolation. “In such a situation, in the absence of communication or with insufficient communication that is apportioned and managed in a way that not always meets the public opinion’s needs and interests of finding out information, the feelings of frustration, fear and disagreement with what is going on in the state institutions will definitely grow. This is also true about the judicial system,” said the anticorruption expert.
The United States Department of State’s human rights report on Moldova for 2018, which was published on March 13, shows that selective justice and high-level corruption continue to be the most serious problems faced by the Moldovan citizens. Even if the legislation provides for criminal punishment for acts of corruption, the government didn’t manage to efficiently apply the law, says the report.
