The two civil society representatives selected by the Government to fill the vacant position of member of the Superior Council of Prosecutors (SCP) will be evaluated by the Pre-Vetting Commission in the coming period, the Pre-Vetting Commission announced on Wednesday 13 September.

They are Radu Mîrza, expert in justice, rule of law and human rights, and Mihail Sorbalo, lecturer at the Public Law Department of the Faculty of Law at ULIM. Today, the Commission sent the candidates the 5-year Declaration form. The completed declaration, as well as any additional documents as appropriate, are to be returned to the Commission by e-mail by the end of 20 September 2023.

The declaration for 5 years is a document that includes information on the personal assets and interests of the candidates, as well as the list of close persons in the judiciary, prosecution and public service, as required by Art. 9 para. (2) of the Law no. 26/2022 on some measures related to the selection of candidates for membership in the self-administrative bodies of judges and prosecutors. If candidates have not previously been subject to the declaration of personal assets and interests, according to Law no. 133/2016, they shall complete declarations of personal assets and interests for each of the last five years (period 2018 – 2022) for which an annual declaration has not been submitted.

After receiving the declarations, the Pre-Vetting Commission will analyse the income and property of the candidates and their families, “based on extensive research of relevant assessment data collected from public information systems, accumulated from individuals and legal entities, and subsequent communication with the candidates”.

For advance information purposes, on 6 September 2023, the Commission sent applicants a completed example of a 5-Year Declaration to give them more time to collect the information needed to complete the document. In addition, candidates were sent the Ethical Integrity Questionnaire which, unlike the 5-year Declaration, is voluntary. The Ethical Integrity Questionnaire includes questions on possible violations or facts, which could affect the candidate’s ethical integrity, and is to be sent to the Commission by 20 September 2023.

According to Art. 9 para. (2) of Law No. 26/2022, failure to submit the 5-Year Declaration and the annual declarations, where relevant, on time shall constitute grounds for the Commission to find that the candidate has not passed the assessment.

The position of civil society member of the PSC, for which the two candidates aspire, became vacant in April 2023. According to the Law on Public Prosecution, the PSC consists of 10 members. Five members of the PSC are elected by the General Assembly of Prosecutors from among serving prosecutors, one from the General Prosecutor’s Office and four from territorial and specialised prosecutors’ offices, and four members are elected by competition from among civil society, as follows: one by the President of the Republic, one by the Parliament, one by the Government and one by the Academy of Sciences of Moldova. At the same time, the President of the SCM (including interim) is an ex officio member of the PSC.