The draft law aimed at streamlining the mechanisms of disciplinary liability of judges and the work of the Judicial Inspectorate was voted in the second reading by Parliament on Thursday, February 2.

The document provides for the elimination of the condition of the existence of a final act of finding as a basis for the dismissal of the judge in the event of situations of incompatibility.

Another provision of the draft law concerns the method of evaluating the work of inspector-judges. Thus, the work of inspectors-judges, appointed by the Superior Council of Magistracy (CSM) for a six-year term, will be subject to evaluation every two years by the CSM, a press release says.

“The evaluation procedure and criteria will be set out in a regulation approved by the CSM. The proposed changes also concern the right of the Judicial Inspectorate to investigate facts that may constitute disciplinary offences. At the same time, in order to ensure technical, organisational and administrative assistance in the work of the Judicial Inspectorate, it is proposed to establish a separate subdivision within the CSM, which will provide the necessary support to make the work of judicial inspectors more efficient,” the authors of the draft say.

The draft law also provides for an increase from two to three years of the statute of limitations for disciplinary proceedings against judges, the standardisation of the procedure for dismissal of judges, and the exclusion from the list of disciplinary sanctions applicable to judges of the sanction of salary reduction.