Who fears the Prosecution reform

Mariana Colun
07/11/2015
Foto: CIJM

The draft law on Prosecution might be debated by the Parliament soon. This document has little chance to be voted in the second reading because MPs have shared opinions on some provisions of this draft. Experts and prosecutors warn that the Republic of Moldova risks “not to benefit from European financing” because of this large backlog. Moreover, relevant experts underline that the politics does not give green light to the project as it fears that the institution will get too much independence.

The Liberal-Democrat MP Tudor Deliu, deputy chairman of the Legal Commission for appointments and immunities pointed out that the draft on Prosecution was discussed by the Committee for a second reading. On Thursday, November 5, it was proposed to be introduced in the twice-weekly cycle at the Parliament’s Permanent Bureau, but the members of the committee requested postponement, says the MP.  Sergiu Sarbu, member of the same Commission believes that this draft law will be debated by the Legislative next week.

Who votes the draft law on Prosecution?

Though this draft will be debated in the plenary of the Parliament, it has little chances to be voted by a sufficient number of MPs. "The PLDM joined the opposition not because it does not want to vote draft laws.  We will vote all the draft laws which solve citizens' problems including depoliticizing of the judiciary system. As for this law, the Liberal Democrats have probably contributed the most to both its amendment and discussion. I believe that this draft law will not be adopted soon because there will be no votes. Under the Commission, socialists and communists have said that they would not vote with this law”, said Tudor Deliu.

"Members of PSRM will not vote with this draft law", said Igor Dodon, leader of the Socialists.

Communists, more lenient

PCRM, who did not vote with this draft law in the first reading, submitted several amendments. "They relate in particular to the modality to elect or designate the general prosecutor. We will take the decision to vote or not the law if our amendments are accepted or rejected. If these are considered, we will vote with the new Law on Prosecution", said the communist MP Artur Resetnikov.

The Liberal Party shares the same view. Mihai Ghimpu, leader of the faction said that the Liberals have objections to this bill and they believe that there should be some changes. "We will discuss. We will vote when the law is qualitative. We will not abstain from voting. The law is good, but it needs some amendments", said Mihai Ghimpu. He refused to say what needs to be improved.

On the other hand, democrat MPs promise to vote the draft law in the second reading. "PDM will certainly vote with this draft law. Our colleagues blocked us a bit, but we are ready to vote with it. We hope that the Liberal Party and other MPs will support this draft law because it is a very important draft law and that is why we do not hurry to introduce it on the agenda.  We want to make sure that we have the necessary votes", said Sergiu Sirbu.

Bone of contention: mechanism to designate the general prosecutor

They have been talking about the reform of prosecution for about 2 years, the biggest debt of the Republic of Moldova to external partners in justice sector reform. The new concept was ready in late 2013 and it was approved a year later. In March 2015, the draft law was approved by the Venice Commission and it was voted in first reading by Parliament in May. Although Andrian Candu, Speaker of the Legislative gave assurances that this draft law would be passed in final reading by the end of the spring-summer session, this never happened.

The bone of contention appears to be changing the mechanism to designate the general prosecutor. Thus, under the new law, he will not be designated by Parliament at the request of the President of the Legislative, but by the president of the country at the proposal of the Superior Council of Prosecutors. This change conflicts with the stipulations of the Constitution running that the Parliament is responsible for it. The current formula to designate the general prosecutor was criticized by experts that it would leave room for political influence.

"If the general prosecutor is designated by the Parliament, what kind of de-politicization can be about?" wonders Mircea Rosioru, president of the Superior Council of Prosecutors (CSP). He argues that the current draft law on Prosecution comes with guarantees of prosecutors’ qualities: "We will have better prosecutors, because we will have other methodologies to designate them. Also, we will have clearer and more transparent principles when it comes to career of prosecutors", said Mircea Rosioru.

What will happen if the law on the Prosecution is not voted in the second reading?

President of CSP admits that everything depends on politicians now. "The ball is in the court of politics. The evolution of political situation makes me become more pessimistic about the adoption of this draft law. In current situation, I doubt that this law gets the necessary number of votes. Some MPs who agree with the bill, will not vote because it is the policy of the party they belong to. They will definitely not vote with this draft law. We must not forget that, if we do not have a law, we will not get European funding", said Mircea Rosioru.

The same opinion is shared by anticorruption experts. "If the Law on Prosecution is not passed, we cannot talk about a reform of law bodies, because starting from the mission of the Prosecutor authorizing certain actions under criminal investigation, but has particular tasks to perform special activities of investigation, it is very important to be independent and this draft law tried to ensure a start of independence to the policy of the Prosecutor. The European Union is concerned every time about this gap and its overcoming is conditioned by the next tranche of EU funds. Thus, if this draft law is not adopted, it will be difficult to finish the disbursement of the next tranche to support justice sector reform Strategy", said Mariana Kalughin, expert at the Center for Analysis and Prevention of Corruption.

"Unfortunately, only lawmakers can change the situation. Everything depends on them. We found ourselves in a jam. We are entitled to say that politics has no real intention to streamline the activity of the prosecution, including  the  General Prosecutor’s office as long as the implementation of good laws is not ensured", says Mariana Kalughin, anti-corruption expert.

Though it is an important topic on the agenda of the actors involved in justice sector reform, the draft law on Prosecution was not discussed by the working group of anti-corruption system reform, created on October 12, at the proposal of Speaker Andrian Candu.

"What we could discuss, but it is not discussed in the working group is the project related to the framework on implementing the Law on Prosecution. It has not even reached the Government. The Law on Prosecution cannot be implemented if it is not adopted together with the law amending the framework. It is an urgent matter which must be considered by the decision makers now ", said Nadejda Hriptievschi, program director at the Legal Resources Centre in Moldova.

Ambassadors accredited in Chisinau pointed out several times that the reforms aimed to reduce corruption were stagnating. In an interview for the portal Anticorruption, Pirkka Tapiola, Head of EU Delegation in the Republic of Moldova said that he had not seen improvements in the justice sector. "Much has to be done to say that there is satisfactory progress. There is no real political will to reform this strategic sector", said Pirkka Tapiola.

Mariana Colun
07/11/2015




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