Candidates at the stage of admission to the National Institute of Justice (INJ), appointment to the position of judge or prosecutor and promotion/transfer to the position, will be required to submit a declaration of personal assets and interests. The draft amendment to the Law on the Status of Judges and the Law on the National Institute of Justice was supported at second reading by 70 MPs.

According to the authors, the legislative amendments aim to ensure integrity and transparency among the audience of the National Justice Institute.

The document also provides for the amendment of certain aspects, which relate to the composition, selection and work of the governing bodies of the National Institute of Justice.

Minister of Justice Sergiu Litvinenco had previously mentioned that once candidates for the entrance exam to the National Institute of Justice will be obliged to submit a declaration of wealth and personal interests, the transparency of the wealth of future judges and prosecutors will be ensured, even starting with their professional training.

“The document provides for a number of essential changes concerning the work and access to the INJ. First of all, candidates for the entrance exam to the INJ will be obliged to submit a declaration of assets and personal interests. This will ensure the transparency of the wealth of future judges and prosecutors, starting with their professional training. From the outset, they will be subject to the requirements of a climate of public integrity. Moreover, the declarations of assets submitted upon admission to the National Justice Institute will serve as a starting point for assessing the assets of future judges and prosecutors, which will make it possible to identify potential acts of corruption,” said Justice Minister Sergiu Litvinenco at the government meeting on 29 June.

According to an executive briefing note, the project also aims to improve several administrative aspects of the composition, selection and work of the governing bodies of the INJ, which will ensure proportional representation of the justice system’s administrative bodies.

To this end, an equal number of members of the Council of the INJ, appointed by the Superior Council of Magistrates and the Superior Council of Prosecutors, will be established, and the President of the Republic of Moldova will be given the power to appoint a member to the Council of the INJ, based on her/his constitutional powers in the area of judges’ careers.

It will also be expressly provided for the level of courts and prosecutors’ offices, from which the members of the Council of the INJ will be appointed, in order to ensure the objective criterion of representativeness of judges and prosecutors in the judiciary and prosecutors’ offices.

The strengthening of the National Justice Institute is included in the Action Plan for the implementation of the Strategy on ensuring the independence and integrity of the justice sector for the years 2022-2025.