Justice Reform Will Stick to “Moldovan Style”

Christian RUSSU

Even the ruling party admitted that it had failed to reform the country’s justice system in the “European style”, so now it is time to resort to the “Moldovan” one. In fact, this means further eradication of the remnants of independence in the justice sector, only in an even more emergency and rigid mode

In many senses, the unsuccessful election campaign objectively required the ruling party to sober up and rethink its political course. And the public’s demand for change is by no means limited to the reshuffling of individual functionaries. The PAS ideologists have already tested the removal of the most toxic figures from the public eye, but in the current situation, with the parliamentary race looming, more radical moves are needed. One such move is the resumption of justice reform. From the media point of view, everything was presented spectacularly: Maia Sandu’s catchy slogans about the ineffectiveness of the fight “without getting your hands dirty” against the evil of political corruption, PAS deputies’ assertions about the uselessness of European methods and the need to resort to the “Moldovan style”, then the convening of the Supreme Security Council. There was an admission of a complete failure in the justice system, with identification of those responsible - Veronica Dragalin was appointed the chief punch ball - and a promise of decisive measures: accelerated cleansing and the creation of an Anticorruption Court. Observers have mostly expressed irony and new concerns about these plans. The method of improving the justice system, adopted by the PAS, by means of personnel shake-ups and appointment of their own people to leading positions is well known and has not proved to be the best. As a result, these “loyal” appointees, who enjoyed the powers received, subsequently sabotaged the organization. Behind the demonstrated attempts to comply with the procedures and principles of the law, there was often a banal crave for more power. A vivid example is Dragalin’s activity at the head of the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office, accompanied by endless internal strife. However, it seems that the authorities cannot offer anything new, nor do they want to: there is only a demand to speed things up. Now the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office is in for a change. Everyone remembers the fate of Iulian Rusu, who headed the National Anticorruption Centre (NAC). The overseas prosecutor will suffer the same fate of a victim, which is favored by the political situation in her second homeland. Dragalin was privileged before the election as her mother oversaw the election campaign in the US and Canada among others. So, kicking her out before would have been a good idea at all. Now is different, so literally within days a strategy to neutralize her has been executed. As early as tomorrow, the reformed Supreme Court of Justice will consider the Prosecutor General’s proposal to change the structure of the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office, and we can expect the resignation of its disgraced head as a result. There is a crucial addition to prosecutors. A week earlier, Victor Furtuna won the competition for the leadership of the Prosecutor’s Office for Combating Organized Crime and Special Cases. The speed of his appointment to the post is comparable only to the speed of opening criminal cases against persons undesirable for PAS. In October 2021, following a complaint by ruling party MP Lilian Carp, Furtuna in less than three hours opened five cases against Alexandr Stoianoglo and ordered his detention. In addition to revitalizing criminal proceedings against opposition leaders under Furtuna’s leadership, PCCOCS (a structure created under Plahotniuc to harass business) has succeeded in identifying spies and “traitors to the motherland”. A catchy case involving officers of the Border Police and the Parliament Secretariat (Ion Creanga) is already in court. The vetting commission has also accelerated its work. By yesterday, the verification of all candidates from the judges applying for a seat in the Superior Council of Magistracy, the Collegium for the selection and evaluation of judges and the Disciplinary Collegium was completed. On the same day the SCM decided to convene on 19 December the General Assembly of judges, where the professionals who passed the filter will be proposed for election to the vacant posts. Moreover, all “unreliable” judges, who allowed themselves to criticize the authorities and former NGOs, who put on judicial robes, were demonstrably denied the right to challenge earlier decisions. In Marina Rusu v. Pre-vetting Commission, the Supreme Court of Justice, with the participation of mocking Vladislav Gribincea, took banal revenge on the judge for opposing the reforms given to grant-eaters from the Legal Resources Centre (CRJM). As for the Anticorruption Court, the MPs admit that Maia Sandu instructed to adopt all the necessary amendments for its creation in 10 days. They are also to establish new strict timeframes for court judgements. Experts in international affairs will confirm that anticorruption courts as such exist in several dozen countries in Asia and Africa. In Kenya, Bangladesh, Senegal, Pakistan, Nepal, Cameroon, Burundi, the judges of this structure work in local courts. Uganda and Botswana have a mixed system. There is also the example of Afghanistan with its “efficient” anticorruption strategy. It is highly likely that, given the European integration aspirations, the Anticorruption Court in our country will be introduced not in a pure Asian-African style, but in some hybrid form, for the judges of the new structure to combine corruption cases with other categories of offences. At least, such forms exist in some European countries. In any case, the top-down acceleration to the process of cleansing the justice system should be alarming, because at this rate, many issues with the reorganization of the justice system will be closed by the new year. At the same time, we should not forget that the authorities use not even the prosecutor’s structures, but the police itself as an administrative “stick” against the opposition. Thus, already at the start of the parliamentary campaign we will see a renewed repressive machine of PAS, which will not handle political opponents with kid gloves.