During a working visit to Chișinău, the chairman of the European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission), Gianni Buquicchio, mentioned that the Venice Commission will come in the next period with an opinion on the amendments made to the Law on the Prosecutor’s Office.

During a press conference held on Wednesday, October 20, at the Parliament of Chișinău, the President of the Venice Commission, Gianni Buquicchio, also mentioned, in the context of the amendments to the Law on the Prosecutor’s Office, the importance of not confusing urgency with haste.

“The Venice Commission and the Council of Europe have been cooperating with Moldova for several decades. So far I have worked quite well with several Presidents, with different Parliaments. A success that we had, which was voted by the majority with the support of the opposition, are the amendments on the law on judicial reform. Now, as you know, there are problems in Moldova. There were questions about the law on the Prosecutor’s Office. There were questions about the election of some members of the Superior Council of Magistracy. There were also questions regarding the composition of the Central Electoral Commission.

As for the Prosecutor’s Office, and the events of the previous week, the Venice Commission will come up with an opinion on the Law on the Prosecutor’s Office. More reforms, more movements, more changes have now been launched in Moldova. In discussions with the current majority, we stressed the importance of not confusing urgency with haste. The parliamentary majority was elected by Moldovans to achieve certain objectives, respectively it must satisfy them. The electorate wants to fight corruption, effective justice and demand a better life in this country. The parliamentary majority must take these views into account. In order to achieve all this, the parliamentary majority must not rush and reach solutions that are based on consensus as much as possible. When I talk about the fact that there must be dialogue, I mean dialogue with the opposition. It has to be constructive. They showed constructivism when they adopted the reform of the Constitution. There must also be dialogue with civil society.

“(…) Indeed, the speed with which it was acted was great, but I cannot give you an answer now because we have to study what has been done with the law, what will be done in the next few weeks. The authorities will receive an opinion on the law. As for the procedure, it is in the hands of justice and we cannot intervene in this regard,” said Gianni Buquicchio, President of the European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission).

The President of the European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission), Gianni Buquicchio, pays a working visit to Moldova, on October 19-21.

The following working group meets with the following representatives of the Moldovan authorities:

• President of Moldova
• Representatives of the Constitutional Court
• the Vice-President of Parliament and members of the Legal Affairs Committee appointments and immunities of Parliament
• Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration
• Minister of Justice
• Superior Council of Magistracy
• director of the National Anticorruption Center
• the director of the National Integrity Authority

The amendments to the Law on the Prosecutor’s Office, which mainly refer to the introduction of mechanisms for evaluating the activity of the Prosecutor General, with the possibility of his dismissal, at the proposal of the Superior Council of Prosecutors, were approved on Tuesday, 24 August, in the final reading.

General Prosecutor’s Office gave a negative opinion on the draft amendment to the Prosecutor’s Office Law. According to the institution, “the authors of the draft are in fact seeking the establishment of new grounds and procedures, with the direct involvement of political institutions, for the early dismissal of the prosecutor general.”

After the approved amendments, the General Prosecutor’s Office issued a press release on August 23 announcing that “it addressed the international structures with the call to analyze the compatibility of the legislative changes proposed by the Parliament of Moldova, regarding the firing procedures to disciplinary liability and to the evaluation of the performances of the General Prosecutor, as well as to the modification of the composition of the Superior Council of Magistracy, with the specialized European standards.”