With a view to finalizing the draft law on external evaluation of judges and prosecutors, the Ministry of Justice presented the draft concept on the mechanism of extraordinary evaluation at the working group meeting, a statement said on Monday, February 20.

According to Ministry representatives, the evaluation mechanism comprises 3 phases. The pre-vetting phase provides for the screening of candidates for leadership positions in the Superior Council of Magistracy (CSM), the Superior Council of the Prosecutor’s Office (CSP) and for members of the judicial and prosecutorial colleges. Pre-vetting is an evaluation of candidates who voluntarily apply for the post of judge in the CSM, and failure to pass this procedure does not entail consequences for the judge’s career, as it is a filtering process for possible promotion to the self-administrative body.

The second phase is the vetting or evaluation of judges and candidates who wish to become judges of the Supreme Court of Justice. Vetting, involves ethical and financial vetting that will be applied to judges and candidates for judges of the CSJ, as well as to judges and prosecutors in senior positions. The results of the vetting process will generate stronger effects for their careers. Subjects who have not passed vetting could be dismissed, only for unjustified cases of obvious differences between expenses and income.

Phase three will see the vetting of judges and prosecutors in key positions and institutions.

The consultations took place in a hybrid format, with physical and online attendance of representatives from the CSM, CSP, courts at all levels, prosecutors’ offices, civil society and development partners.

“All initiatives promoted by the Ministry of Justice in the framework of the justice system reform have been and are being consulted with the Venice Commission in order to apply and comply with best practices. This draft law has also been sent to the Venice Commission for consultation and, following the proposals and adjustments that we will make, the final draft will be sent to the Commission again for endorsement”, said the Minister of Justice.

The authors of the draft announce that an exact reasonable margin of acceptable difference between the expenses and income declared by the subject of the assessment has been established in the draft law and it is intended to introduce additional safeguards to ensure that judges and prosecutors are not severely penalised for minor infringements, the statement said.

In the context of the resignations of some judges from the current CSJ, the minister said, “the judiciary is reluctant to accept this reform even though it has been fully involved, since 2021, in all the consultation and drafting processes of the legislation that relates to the evaluation mechanism.” Veronica Mihailov-Moraru, called for “further consultations and identification of common solutions. These signals of resistance and potential deadlocks do not benefit anyone, these actions only increase society’s distrust in justice. We need to work together constructively and think about the public interest”, concluded the Justice Minister.

The draft law on the external evaluation of judges and prosecutors will be submitted to public consultation, finalised and then sent to the competent authorities for approval.

Only 5 of the 28 judges who applied for the position of CSJ members (from among the judges) passed the integrity test, the verification of assets and tax history. The others failed the Pre-Vetting Commission’s assessment.