To provide a clear overview of the progressmade by the Vetting Commission one year since its inception, we have createdseveral charts illustrating the stage of the process for each category ofsubjects being evaluated by the Commission for financial and ethical integrity.
The Vetting Commission focuses on three typesof evaluations: vetting for the Supreme Court of Justice (SCJ), pre-vetting forcandidates for membership in the Superior Council of Magistracy (SCM) whoapplied after 1st September 2023, as well as candidates in the two boardswithin the SCM (the Selection and Evaluation Board of Judges and DisciplinaryBoard), regardless of the date of application to the competition. Additionally,vetting is conducted for judges of the Courts of Appeal, presidents and vicepresidents of courts, and candidates for certain judicial positions.
Last August, the SCM submitted the first groupof subjects — 37 candidates for the position of judge at the Supreme Court ofJustice (SCJ) and incumbent SCJ judges — to the Vetting Commission forevaluation. Other groups of candidates followed, totaling over 100 subjectsundergoing evaluation. Some subjects passed pre-vetting, some withdrew from thecompetition, and others resigned. The evaluation has been completed withreports or decisions regarding most subjects, except for the judges of theChișinău Court of Appeal (the latest group recently sent for evaluation by theSCM).
To date, the Commission has issued 22 reportsand 11 decisions, with decisions in the process of drafting and approval foranother 12 subjects who have already been heard. The pass rate for externalevaluation so far exceeds the non-pass rate.
Although no judge has been dismissed as aresult of the evaluation process thus far, 21 judges from the Chișinău Court ofAppeal and 3 incumbent judges from the Supreme Court of Justice resigned afterbeing notified of the commencement of evaluations.
The first hearings took place in November lastyear and focused on judges of the Supreme Court of Justice and candidates forthe SCJ judge position. In total, the Commission has conducted 7 rounds ofhearings to date.
The Vetting Commission continues to evaluatesubjects based on the three laws it is now mandated to implement: Law 26/2022,Law 65/2023, and Law 252/2023.
For more details, refer to theenclosed infographics.