GOVERNMENT APPROVED DRAFT LAWS ON SCJ REFORM AND EVALUATION OF JUDGES AND SCJ CANDIDATES

On Tuesday, the government approved two draft laws on the reform of the Supreme Court of Justice (SCJ) and the evaluation process of judges and SCJ candidates.

Justice Minister Veronica Mihailov-Moraru said at the cabinet meeting that the reorganization involves cutting the powers of the Supreme Court and transforming it into a court of cassation, which will reduce the number of cases before the court.

According to the minister, the number of SCJ judges will be reduced from 33 to 20 (of which 11 will be from the judiciary and nine from other professions: lawyers, prosecutors, professors).

The second draft concerns the evaluation of judges and candidates to the Supreme Court of Justice. The evaluation will be carried out by a new evaluation commission (created by a decision of Parliament), which will begin its work after the adoption of the two laws. The mechanism of creation and work of the commission will be similar to the work on prevetting (integrity and ethics). The plan is to complete the review in six months. However, the final decision on the promotion belongs to the Superior Council of Magistracy.

Prime Minister Dorin Recean stressed that justice reform will continue no matter what.

"The government will count on honest people in the system, we want to encourage them to contribute to the reform, to increase confidence in justice, because it is time for the system to show results. We all want independent justice," he outlined.