There are no independent judges in Moldova, people are imprisoned unreasonably – complaint to the CE

In Moldova, they continue to unreasonably put citizens under preliminary arrest. This conclusion was sent today, April 25, by the experts of the Center for Legal Resources of the Republic of Moldova (CRJM) to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe.

In their opinion, the reason is related to the lack of independence of judges, as well as the fact that many of them take the side of the prosecution. Also, the quality of the work of the justice system is affected by the high workload of the courts, which in turn affects the ability of judges to qualitatively analyze the case materials. In 2022, Moldovan judges approved 91.4% of requests for provisional arrests, according to CRJM.

“This figure remains high, and requests for arrest are considered superficially,” – stated in the Center for Legal Resources.

In this regard, lawyers recommend that the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe demand that the Moldovan authorities: ensure that judges and prosecutors comply with Art. 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights, in particular, they checked whether the suspicion of a crime was justified; granted full independence to prosecution judges; provided an opportunity for any person who was detained or arrested in violation of Art. 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights, to demand compensation from the state, regardless of the charge or sentence that was pronounced on the merits of the case.

Recall that in June 2022, Moldova and Ukraine received the status of candidate countries for EU membership. At the same time, nine steps were identified for the Republic of Moldova, which must be completed on the path of European integration, in particular, they are related to the reform of justice and the fight against corruption, where, according to Brussels, there are significant gaps.

The Moldovan Parliament has already adopted a bill on the reform of the Supreme Court of Justice. It provides for the reorganization of the Supreme Court of Justice, including the revision of the competences of the court.

The authorities decided to appoint members of the magistracy according to their own, party criteria, not from among the collegium, but the president Maya Sandu She accused the acting judges of total corruption and even brought this issue to the discussion of the Security Council.

In response to this, at a general meeting of judges, representatives of the collegium announced political interference in justice and the actual seizure of the justice system by the ruling presidential party “Action and Solidarity” (PDS). In protest, there were mass resignations.

At the direction of the head of state, a new body will also be created in the coming months – the Anti-Corruption Chamber, in fact, a special court controlled by the authorities “to investigate cases of major corruption and corruption in the justice system.”

As reported EADaily removed a year ago from the post of Prosecutor General of Moldova on charges of corruption and abuse of power Alexander Stoianoglo also accuses the current authorities of taking over the justice system. According to him, Sandu demanded that he initiate custom-made criminal cases against representatives of the opposition, as well as provide her with access to investigation materials on high-profile cases involving members of the PAS.