Public hearing of judge Serghei Pilipenco of the South Court of Appeal

Judge Serghei Pilipenco of the South Court of Appeal was heard by the Judicial Vetting Commission as part of the external evaluation process conducted under Law No. 252/2023 on the evaluation of judges and prosecutors. The public hearing is the stage in which the Commission offers the evaluated person the opportunity to respond to any integrity concerns identified during the verification process.

Judge Pilipenco’s case was assigned to Panel B of the Commission. The panel members – Scott Bales, Willem Brower, and Iurie Gațcan – asked the judge for clarifications on financial integrity matters, in particular suspicions of unjustified assets for the years 2012, 2013, 2020, and 2023.

The questions focused on vacation expenses, car maintenance, transfers and withdrawals from bank accounts, declaration of residence, the purchase of an apartment in the name of his brother, as well as the origin of cash deposited in 2020.

Following the hearing, the panel will approve a report outlining the relevant facts, the rationale, and the recommendation on whether the subject has successfully passed the evaluation. The outcome of the evaluation will be made public, and the report will be submitted to the Superior Council of Magistracy.

⭕️ For hearings conducted under Law No. 252/2023, the six members of the Commission have been divided into two panels of three members each, referred to as Panel A and Panel B. Each panel includes both national and international members.

📜The external extraordinary evaluation is carried out based on the following principles:

a) independence of the Evaluation Commission;

b) fairness of the evaluation procedure;

c) publicity of the acts issued in the evaluation process;

d) exceptional nature of the evaluation.

‍