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Is the judicial reform in Moldova controversial? Facts and experts’ opinions

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Often when talking about a judicial reform one can refer to improving the law, establishing a stronger judicial independence of prosecution, changes to the appointment procedure, establishing mandatory retirement age for judges or enhancing supervision over the activities in the area.

That is the case for the Republic of Moldova as well. But is it actually happening or is implemented only on paper? What is the hidden part of the iceberg when it comes to the Moldovan judiciary? Below are some events that happened lately:

Controllers with integrity problems

In December 2019, Prosecutor General, Alexandr Stoianoglo, signed an order to carry out controls at the Anti-corruption Prosecutor’s Office and the Prosecutor’s Office for Combating Organised Crime and Special Cases. Most of the 21 state prosecutors, appointed by the Prosecutor General, to verify the activity of the Prosecutors’ Offices have been found to have problems of integrity themselves in the last four years. Some of the controllers are even related or have common interests in the assigned controlled cases, wrote an investigation made by the anticoruptie.md portal.

The cases filed against the controllers at the Prosecutors’ Offices are related to offering or taking bribes, illicit enrichment, illegal transfers and influence peddling.

Vitalie Zamă, a lawyer representing the Association of Jurists for Human Rights, argues that prosecutors who have even a small connection with a filed case are forced to refrain from carrying out the control. “It is inadmissible for someone involved in a criminal case to have access to it,” he said.

Lilia Carasciuc, president of Transparency International Moldova, mentioned that if there are suspicions of conflict of interest or integrity issues regarding a prosecutor, he must be removed from such controls. “These prosecutors must have an immaculate reputation. Unfortunately, one almost can’t find such prosecutors in our country. In this case, it seems that the wolf was let to guard the sheep, but at least the most correct prosecutors had to be chosen to carry out the control,” Carasciuc declared as being cited by anticoruptie.md.

The former head of the Anti-corruption Prosecutor’s Office is still under arrest

Viorel Morari, former head of the Anti-corruption Prosecutor’s Office, was detained on January 10. A criminal case related to forgery of administrative documents and abuse of power was filed against him on December 26. Viorel Morari is suspected that, in March 2017, he received from Vladimir Plahotniuc a complaint that was registered against the legal requirements, filing a criminal case and subsequently criminal prosecution, and falsifying several procedural documents within the criminal case.

On January 29, the Chișinău District Court decided to extend the Morari’s preventive arrest by 20 days, until February 19.

Viorel Morari requested that his case would be sent to the court as soon as possible in order to have the opportunity to prove his innocence, according to the declarations of his lawyer.

Morari was removed from office, at the beginning of December, during an internal control of prosecutors initiated by the new Prosecutor General Alexandru Stoianoglo. The decision to perform the controls was issued after Viorel Morari’s announcement of resuming the investigation into the Russian financing of the Party of Socialists of the Republic of Moldova.

Victor Munteanu, the department director at the Soros Moldova Foundation stated: “I see in this scandal [ referring to the previously mentioned integrity problems of prosecutors] the Stoianoglo’s attempt to centralise all the power of the institution. I suppose this is not done without political support. An argument would be that the control at the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office began after Morari announced about the resumption of the criminal prosecution regarding the financing of the Party of Socialists.”

The opinion of the Venice Commission

In the opinion on the Draft Law on Amending the Law on Superior Council of Magistracy, published on January 22, the Venice Commission welcomed the proposal to increase the members of the Superior Council of Magistracy (SCM) from 12 to 15, as well as the fact that its composition will also be represented by lower courts.The proposal to increase the number of the members of the SCM from twelve to fifteen may be positive as the functions of the Council concerning evaluation, management, discipline and accountability of judges can be qualitatively strengthened with a broader and more representative composition,” is stated in the opinion report.

It also noted that Parliament is welcomed to appoint the five members of the SCM, with the vote of the majority of elected members, and a stronger majority should include the opposition, which should be also considered in the context of preparing constitutional changes. “The election of non-judge members by Parliament with the vote of the “majority of the elected deputies”, assuming that it is constitutional, is welcome, as a positive step towards a larger support of the candidates by Parliament. A stronger majority would be more appropriate because it would involve the opposition too: this should at any rate be examined in the context of the constitutional reform in preparation.” On the other hand, the Venice Commission recommended the Moldovan authorities to consider other solutions, such as vesting outside bodies that are not under government control (the law faculties that could propose candidates or establishing an independent, non-political commission in this regard).

However, the Commission stated that it is regrettable that the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova did not wait for the present opinion before the adoption at the second and final reading of the draft law amending Law no. 947/1996 on SCM on 20 December 2019, nor before submitting it to the President for promulgation.

The next day, the members of the Cabinet of Ministers approved the bill regarding the amendment of the Constitution of the Republic of Moldova, in aspects related to the activity of judges, the Superior Council of Magistracy and provisions that would allow the president of the country to directly appoint judges. More details here.

The CoE working group’s recommendation

The experts of the Council of Europe recommended to the Government of the Republic of Moldova, during an official visit in January 2019, to ensure a real process of public discussions of the draft law on the evaluation of judges with all the interested parties, including the judiciary and civil society representatives. Only afterwards, the project can be submitted to the Venice Commission for expertise.

The CoE representatives mentioned that it would be unacceptable to speed up the drafting process only to be able to submit it for examination to the Venice Commission during the March plenary session. It was recommended to submit the draft law on the evaluation of judges rather at the June 2020 plenary session.

Report on justice

In 2018, Moldova allocated for judiciary EUR 14.3 per inhabitant, that was 4.5 times smaller than the Council of Europe (CoE) average, as it was reported by the Legal Resources Centre from Moldova. The budget allocated for justice (courts, legal aid and prosecutor’s office) accounted for 1.3% of the entire public expenditures.

Moldova still remains among the countries with the lowest salaries for judges and prosecutors. In 2018, the entry-level salary paid to Moldovan judges and prosecutors was five times smaller than the CoE average.

Also, the same report concluded that Moldovans go to court considerably less frequently than the CoE average, when considering the number of registered commercial, administrative and criminal cases per 100 inhabitants.

In Moldova, the examination of a case lasts 259 days on average, as compared to the CoE average, which is 735 days. Moldova is one of the countries with the fastest justice system, that meaning a lower quality of justice, as confirmed by numerous cases lost by Moldova at the
European Court of Human Rights.

Photo: Shutterstock/image

Society

“They are not needy, but they need help”. How Moldovan volunteers try to create a safe environment for the Ukrainian refugees

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At the Government’s ground floor, the phones ring constantly, the laptop screens never reach standby. In one corner of the room there is a logistics planning meeting, someone has a call on Zoom with partners and donors, someone else finally managed to take a cookie and make some coffee. Everyone is exhausted and have sleepy red eyes, but the volunteers still have a lot of energy and dedication to help in creating a safe place for the Ukrainian refugees.

“It’s like a continuous bustle just so you won’t read the news. You get home sometimes and you don’t have time for news, and that somehow helps. It’s a kind of solidarity and mutual support,” says Vlada Ciobanu, volunteer responsible for communication and fundraising.

The volunteers group was formed from the very first day of war. A Facebook page was created, where all types of messages immediately started to flow: “I offer accommodation”, “I want to help”, “I want to get involved”, “Where can I bring the products?”, “I have a car and I can go to the customs”. Soon, the authorities also started asking for volunteers’ support. Now they all work together, coordinate activities and try to find solutions to the most difficult problems.

Is accommodation needed for 10, 200 or 800 people? Do you need transportation to the customs? Does anyone want to deliver 3 tons of apples and does not know where? Do you need medicine or mobile toilets? All these questions require prompt answers and actions. Blankets, sheets, diapers, hygiene products, food, clothes – people bring everything, and someone needs to quickly find ways of delivering them to those who need them.

Sometimes this collaboration is difficult, involves a lot of bureaucracy, and it can be difficult to get answers on time. “Republic of Moldova has never faced such a large influx of refugees and, probably because nobody thought this could happen, a mechanism of this kind of crisis has not been developed. Due to the absence of such a mechanism that the state should have created, we, the volunteers, intervened and tried to help in a practical way for the spontaneous and on the sport solutions of the problems,” mentions Ecaterina Luțișina, volunteer responsible for the refugees’ accommodation.

Ana Maria Popa, one of the founders of the group “Help Ukrainians in Moldova/SOS Українці Молдовa” says that the toughest thing is to find time and have a clear mind in managing different procedures, although things still happen somehow naturally. Everyone is ready to intervene and help, to take on more responsibilities and to act immediately when needed. The biggest challenges arise when it is necessary to accommodate large families, people with special needs, for which alternative solutions must be identified.

Goods and donations

The volunteers try to cope with the high flow of requests for both accommodation and products of all kinds. “It came to me as a shock and a panic when I found out that both mothers who are now in Ukraine, as well as those who found refuge in our country are losing their milk because of stress. We are trying to fill an enormous need for milk powder, for which the demand is high and the stocks are decreasing”, says Steliana, the volunteer responsible for the distribution of goods from the donation centers.

Several centers have been set up to collect donations in all regions of Chisinau, and volunteers are redirecting the goods to where the refugees are. A system for processing and monitoring donations has already been established, while the volunteer drivers take over the order only according to a unique code.

Volunteers from the collection centers also do the inventory – the donated goods and the distributed goods. The rest is transported to Vatra deposit, from where it is distributed to the placement centers where more than 50 refugees are housed.

When they want to donate goods, but they don’t know what would be needed, people are urged to put themselves in the position of refugees and ask themselves what would they need most if they wake up overnight and have to hurriedly pack their bags and run away. Steliana wants to emphasise that “these people are not needy, but these people need help. They did not choose to end up in this situation.”

Furthermore, the volunteer Cristina Sîrbu seeks to identify producers and negotiate prices for products needed by refugees, thus mediating the procurement process for NGOs with which she collaborates, such as Caritas, World Children’s Fund, Polish Solidarity Fund, Lifting hands, Peace Corps and others.

One of the challenges she is facing now is the identifying a mattress manufacturer in the West, because the Moldovan mattress manufacturer that has been helping so far no longer has polyurethane, a raw material usually imported from Russia and Ukraine.

Cristina also needs to find solutions for the needs of the volunteer groups – phones, laptops, gsm connection and internet for a good carrying out of activities.

Hate messages

The most difficult thing for the communication team is to manage the hate messages on the social networks, which started to appear more often. “Even if there is some sort of dissatisfaction from the Ukrainian refugees and those who offer help, we live now in a very diverse society, there are different kind of people, and we act very differently under stress,” said Vlada Ciobanu.

Translation by Cătălina Bîrsanu

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#WorldForUkraine – a map that shows the magnitude of the world’s actions against Russian aggression

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The international community and volunteers from all over te world have launched #WorldForUkraine as a platform that shows the magnitude of the world’s actions against the Russian aggression. In a digital world – it is an interactive map of public support of Ukrainians under the hashtag #WorldForUkraine – rallies, flash mobs, protests around the world. In the physical dimension – it is your opportunity to take to the streets and declare: “No to Putin’s aggression, no to war.”

„Today, along with the political and military support, emotional connection with the civilized world and truthful information are extremely important for Ukraine. The power to do it is in your hands. Join the #WorldForUkraine project and contribute to the victorious battle against the bloodshed inflicted on Ukraine by the aggression of the Russian Federation”, says the „about the project” section of the platform.

Go to the streets — Tell people — Connect and Unite — Become POWERFUL

Volunteers have launched #WorldForUkraine as a platform that shows the magnitude of the world’s actions against Russian aggression. In digital world – it is an INTERACTIVE MAP of public support of Ukrainians worldforukraine.net under the hashtag #WorldForUkraine – rallies, flash mobs, protests around the world. In the physical dimension – it is your opportunity to take to the streets and declare: “No to Putin’s aggression, no to war.” There you may find information about past and future rallies in your city in support of Ukraine. This is a permanent platform for Ukrainian diaspora and people all over the world concerned about the situation in Ukraine.

So here’s a couple of things you could do yourself to help:

* if there is a political rally in your city, then participate in it and write about it on social media with geolocation and the hashtag #WorldForUkraine

* if there are no rallies nearby, organize one in support of Ukraine yourself, write about it on social media with geolocation adding the hashtag #WorldForUkraine

The map will add information about gathering by #WorldForUkraine AUTOMATICALLY

Your voice now stronger THAN ever

All rallies are already here: https://worldforukraine.net

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How is Moldova managing the big influx of Ukrainian refugees? The authorities’ plan, explained 

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From 24th to 28th of February, 71 359 Ukrainian citizens entered the territory of Republic of Moldova. 33 173 of them left the country. As of this moment, there are 38 186 Ukrainian citizens in Moldova, who have arrived over the past 100 hours. 

The Moldovan people and authorities have organized themselves quickly from the first day of war between Russia and Ukraine. However, in the event of a prolonged armed conflict and a continuous influx of Ukrainian refugees, the efforts and donations need to be efficiently managed. Thus, we inquired about Moldova’s long-term plan and the state’s capacity to receive, host, and treat a bigger number of refugees. 

On February 26th, the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of Moldova approved the Regulation of organization and functioning of the temporary Placement Center for refugees and the staffing and expenditure rules. According to the Regulation, the Centers will have the capacity of temporary hosting and feeding at least 20 persons, for a maximum of 3 months, with the possibility of extending this period. The Centers will also offer legal, social, psychological, and primary medical consultations to the refugees. The Center’s activity will be financed from budget allocations, under Article 19 of Provision no. 1 of the Exceptional Situations Commission from February 24th, 2022, and from other sources of funding that do not contravene applicable law.

The Ministry of Inner Affairs and the Government of Moldova facilitated the organization of the volunteers’ group “Moldova for Peace”.  Its purpose is to receive, offer assistance and accommodation to the Ukrainian refugees. The group is still working on creating a structure, registering and contacting volunteers, etc. It does not activate under a legal umbrella. 

Lilia Nenescu, one of the “Moldova for Peace” volunteers, said that the group consists of over 20 people. Other 1700 registered to volunteer by filling in this form, which is still available. The group consists of several departments: 

The volunteers’ department. Its members act as fixers: they’re responsible for connecting the people in need of assistance with the appropriate department. Some of the volunteers are located in the customs points. “The Ministry of Inner Affairs sends us every day the list of the customs points where our assistance is needed, and we mobilize the volunteers”, says Lilia Nenescu. 

The Goods Department manages all the goods donated by the Moldavian citizens. The donations are separated into categories: non-perishable foods and non-food supplies. The volunteers of this department sort the goods into packages to be distributed. 

The Government intends to collect all the donations in four locations. The National Agency for Food Safety and the National Agency for Public Health will ensure mechanisms to confirm that all the deposited goods comply with safety and quality regulations. 

The Service Department operates in 4 directions and needs the volunteer involvement of specialists in psychology, legal assistance (the majority of the refugees only have Ukrainian ID and birth certificates of their children); medical assistance; translation (a part of the refugees are not Ukrainian citizens). 

According to Elena Mudrîi, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Health, so far there is no data about the number of  Covid-19 positive refugees. She only mentioned two cases that needed outpatient medical assistance: a pregnant woman and the mother of a 4-day-old child. 

The Accommodation Department. The volunteers are waiting for the centralized and updated information from the Ministry of Labor about the institutions offering accommodation, besides the houses offered by individuals. 

The Transport Department consists of drivers organized in groups. They receive notifications about the number of people who need transportation from the customs points to the asylum centers for refugees.

The municipal authorities of Chișinău announced that the Ukrainian children refugees from the capital city will be enrolled in educational institutions. The authorities also intend to create Day-Care Centers for children, where they will be engaged in educational activities and will receive psychological assistance. Besides, the refugees from the municipal temporary accommodation centers receive individual and group counseling. 

In addition to this effort, a group of volunteers consisting of Ana Gurău, Ana Popapa, and Andrei Lutenco developed, with the help of Cristian Coșneanu, the UArefugees platform, synchronized with the responses from this form. On the first day, 943 people offered their help using the form, and 110 people asked for help. According to Anna Gurău, the volunteers communicate with the Government in order to update the platform with the missing data. 

Translation from Romanian by Natalia Graur

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