GRECO: Moldova Has Made Insufficient Progress Within Anti-Corruption Reforms

Moldova has made insufficient progress in implementing reforms aimed at preventing corruption among parliamentarians, judges and prosecutors. This is the opinion of the authoritative international organization GRECO, which released the corresponding report on Tuesday in Strasbourg, infotag.md reported. It assesses the country's progress in implementing the GRECO recommendations since 2018. According to it, out of 14 previously outstanding recommendations, only one is now considered partially implemented. In total, nine recommendations are currently only partially implemented and four of them have not been implemented yet. GRECO considers progress being "clearly insufficient" when implementing measures against the MPs. It regrets that emergency procedures are increasingly being used to pass laws and that a significant number of laws have been passed under the fast-track procedure. GRECO expresses its concern about the “repeated failure to systematically provide an adequate time frame for meaningful public consultation and parliamentary debate”. In addition, the code of parliamentarians’ conduct has not yet been adopted, there are still no rules for resolving conflicts of interest and contacts with lobbyists and third parties, nor have been created clear and objective criteria for abolishing parliamentary immunity. With regard to the judiciary, GRECO welcomes rejecting the previous draft law providing for a general review of judges. However, it recalls that there are still no clear, predictable and comprehensive rules for the appointment and promotion of judges. According to the anti-corruption body of the Council of Europe, the five-year probationary period for judges should be canceled. Measures are needed to increase the transparency of judicial activities, provisions and decisions, including for the Superior Council of Magistracy (SCM), as well as to increase the objectivity of disciplinary procedures and measures against judges. "The composition of the SCM is also to be reviewed in order to cancel the membership ex officio of the Minister of Justice and the Prosecutor General. In addition, it is necessary to ensure the election of both judges and ordinary members of the Council according to a fair and transparent procedure," GRECO informed. Other shortcomings are that “no progress has been made in revising the framework for disciplinary responsibility of prosecutors” and that a written guide to the Code of Ethics for Prosecutors has not yet been developed. Contrary to the recommendations of GRECO, the Minister of Justice and the Chairman of the Superior Council of Magistrates remain members of the Superior Council of Prosecutors. Based on this, GRECO concluded that the level the RM complies with its recommendations remains "generally unsatisfactory" and invites the Moldovan authorities to submit a new report on the progress in implementing the outstanding recommendations by September 30, 2021.