Maia Sandu: The Decisions of the Supreme Court of Justice to Cancel the Conclusions of the External Evaluation Commission Are Illegal

President Maia Sandu spoke in an interview about the decisions of the Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ) regarding candidates for the posts of the Superior Council of Magistracy and the Superior Council of Prosecutors members and what will follow in the justice reform. “These rubberstamp decisions of the CSJ to overturn the judgements of the External Evaluation Commission of Judicial Integrity are illegal. We see another attempt by the system to put sticks in the wheels of judicial reform and frustrate efforts to remove corrupt people from the system. These decisions once again confirm that the system does not want to cleanse itself from within and that our approach - external evaluation - is correct. It does not mean that there are no honest people in the system, but as far as we can see, very few are involved in the efforts to clean up the justice system. It is not the first obstacle that corrupt judges create, and it probably won’t be the last. But despite these obstacles, reform is moving forward. The External Evaluation Commission will continue its activity and will expel from the system judges and prosecutors who cannot prove their integrity,” said Maia Sandu. “The crisis in the judiciary will continue until we bring order to the system. The struggle we are waging is a struggle for survival. It is about our survival as a democratic state with a future in the European Union, which we can achieve by reforming the judiciary and reducing corruption. On the other side are corrupt judges and prosecutors, who have received undeserved favors all these years and hook to the rotten system they have built. They are afraid that otherwise they will have to answer for their crimes. They have become rich and untouchable through injustice, and their goal is to retain that position. They are supported by others who want to perpetuate corruption - criminal groups, politicians who pledge to cancel the reforms if they compromise the changes in the judicial system and, consequently, the current government,” Maia Sandu said in an interview to ZdG. We would like to recall that on 1 August, the Supreme Court of Justice cancelled 21 decisions not to nominate candidates for positions in the Superior Council of Magistracy and the Superior Council of Prosecutors. Later, the Supreme Court of Justice issued a statement and noted that it had cancelled the decisions of the External Evaluation Commission because they had found discrepancies.