Judges, candidates for CSJ judge position to be subject to external evaluation

Chisinau, April 6 /MOLDPRES/- The promulgation decree and the Law on the external evaluation of judges and candidates for the position of judge of the Supreme Court of Justice were published in the Official Journal and entered into force with the exception of the provisions of Article 12 (1) which will apply as soon as the Superior Council of Magistracy will be functional.

Assessing the integrity of CSJ judges is an obligation assumed by the Republic of Moldova both at the national and international level. This reform is one of the basic conditions of the Republic of Moldova – European Union Association Agreement. The initiative aims to increase the quality of the judicial act and ensure the appointment of impartial and integrity judges.

The CSJ evaluation will be carried out by an Evaluation Commission, within six months from the start of the procedure. Specifically, Commission members will analyze information regarding the ethical and financial integrity of both current CSJ judges and candidates for vacant positions. The assessment exercise will be applied only once.

The report on the promotion or non-promotion of the evaluation of ethical and financial integrity will be sent to the Superior Council of Magistracy (CSM), which will make a final decision. The CSM can reject the report and order a resumption of the evaluation procedure only once, if it finds certain procedural errors and certain circumstances. At the same time, the decision of the CSM regarding the non-promotion of the evaluation will result in the dismissal of the judges. This will result in the deprivation of the right to exercise the position of judge for seven years from the date of the final decision of the Superior Council of Magistracy. 

The Parliament, within 15 working days from the entry into force of this law, will confirm the nominal composition of the Evaluation Commission.

The Government will undertake the necessary measures to ensure the implementation of this law.

The Ministry of Justice will ensure the payment of the monthly allowance for the members of the Evaluation Commission, provided for in art. 6 (1) a), from the financial means approved in the budget for the external/extraordinary evaluation of judges and prosecutors; will organize the first meeting of the Evaluation Commission in no more than 5 working days after the confirmation of its nominal composition.

The Superior Council of the Magistracy within 5 working days from the expiry of the deadline for submitting the files, it will send to the Evaluation Commission the list of candidates for the position of judge of the Supreme Court of Justice, including their identification and contact data; in no more than two weeks after the promotion of the evaluation by the first 3 candidates, will hold the competition for the positions of judges of the Supreme Court of Justice.

The evaluation commission in no more than 10 working days after the confirmation of the nominal composition, it will choose its president; in no more than 20 days after the confirmation of the nominal composition, it will approve its own organization and operation regulations, including the way of organization and operation of the secretariat.

Judges of the Supreme Court of Justice, in office on the date of entry into force of this law, who passed the evaluation, continue their activity as judges within the Supreme Court of Justice. If the proper functioning of the Supreme Court of Justice is seriously affected due to the number of vacancies, the Superior Council of Magistracy can transfer, temporarily, by way of derogation from the provisions of Law No544/1995 regarding the status of the judge, from lower level courts, judges who meet the legal criteria for judge of the Supreme Court of Justice.

Source: monitorul.gov.md