Mazeiks: European Union Is Relying on the Venice Commission’s Expert Assessment of the PACCO Project

The European Union is awaiting the transfer of the project on the establishment of the Prosecutor’s Office for Combating Corruption and Organized Crime (PACCO) to the Venice Commission. The EU is also ready to offer its recommendations on this document. This was stated by the EU Ambassador to Moldova, Janis Mazeiks, on the air of the Novaya Nedelya (New Week) programme, tv8.md. “We hope that the bill will be submitted to the Venice Commission, which is an important reference point for us when evaluating legislative acts,” the diplomat stressed. As Mazeiks noted, in order to achieve high quality of the legislative act, it is necessary to hold public hearings on the draft. “We hope that in the further process of adopting legislative changes, public discussions will be organized so that this legislative act is of high quality,” said Mazeiks. The ambassador added that European experts are currently studying a draft law on the merger of two specialized prosecutor’s offices. “We will have a proposal on the text, as the European expertise can help,” said Mazeiks. Nevertheless, he admitted that there is no single universal model for building a prosecutor’s office, since there are different approaches in European countries. “It is important that this process is well organized during the reforms,” the EU Ambassador outlined. Last week, Parliament approved in the first reading the creation of the Prosecutor’s Office for Combating Corruption and Organized Crime, which will replace the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office and the Prosecutor’s Office for Combating Organized Crime and Special Causes (PCCOCS). The discussion lasted three hours. The opposition voted against, and some PAS deputies abstained, believing that the draft could affect judicial reform and require the conclusion of the Venice Commission. PACCO should receive one head and several deputies. The number of prosecutors who will work in the new institution should be determined by the Superior Council of Prosecutors at the request of the head of the Prosecutor’s Office. The staff of the structure will be tested on a polygraph and undergo psychological tests. The head of the new prosecutor’s office should be appointed on a competitive basis, before that, his duties should be performed by a specialist appointed by the Prosecutor General. On February 19, the head of the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office, Veronica Dragalin, announced her resignation. She explained her decision by the desire to stop the process of merging the department she heads with the Prosecutor’s Office for Combating Corruption and Organized Crime. Dragalin called the bill proposed by the deputies a “blow to the justice system”, which threatens the independence of justice and weakens the ability to bring to justice those who violate the law while in power.