Moldovan justice minister proposes to reorganise law courts system by merging

Chisinau, 17 February /MOLDPRFES/ - The Moldovan system of law courts will be reorganized by the merger of 42 courts, working at present, into 15 courts, under a draft law approved by the government today, at a proposal by the Justice Ministry.

The rights and obligations of the merged courts switch to the court that is created, according to the provisions of Moldova’s Civil Code. The District Commercial Court and the Military Court will cease working starting from 1 April 2017.

The draft law also sees that “the unification of the headquarters of law courts will be made gradually till 31 December 2027, commensurate with the creation of conditions for this, in line with a plan approved by the parliament at a government’s proposal.”

“The optimization of the judicial map is one of the ministry’s goals, set in the Justice Sector Reform Strategy. The aim is to ensure accessibility and independence of the judicial system, as well as to strengthen the institutional capacities of the courts,” Justice Minister Vladimir Cebotari said.

The draft does not come up with amendments in terms of the number of judges in Moldova, but only concerning the number of courts. The reorganization of the Justice Ministry “does not refer at all to the number of courts of appeal from Moldova or the Supreme Court of Justice, but only to the number of courts of first instance.”       

The document is to be considered by the parliament and will enter into force on 1 January 2017. The working out of the draft on reorganization of the law courts system is provided for in the matrix of policies, annex of the agreement on financing between the government and the European Union on the justice reform support programme.  

(Reporter V. Bercu, editor A. Raileanu)