The Parliament of the Republic of Moldova adopted in the first reading amendments to the Law on the Prosecutor's Office, providing for the introduction of a mechanism for checking the achievements of the Prosecutor General, as well as the application of sanctions against him, up to dismissal.
59 deputies from the ruling Action and Solidarity Party (PAS) voted in favor of the bill. The amendments proposed by the PAS deputies to the Law on the Prosecutor's Office provide for the introduction of a mechanism for checking the achievements of the Prosecutor General, as well as the application of sanctions to him/her based on the results of the assessment of achievements. It is stipulated that, in case of poor performance, disciplinary sanctions can be applied to the Prosecutor General or he/she can be recalled from office. According to the document, to assess the performance, level of knowledge and professional skills, suitability for the position held, the achievements of the prosecutor general will be assessed by the evaluation commission of the prosecutor general, formed by the Supreme Council of the Prosecutor's Office. The assessment of the activities of the Prosecutor General can be initiated by the President of Moldova or at least 3 members of the Supreme Council of Prosecutors. Assessment of the achievements of the Attorney General cannot be carried out more than once a year. It is assumed that the Commission for the Assessment of the Prosecutor General's Achievements will consist of 5 members, 1 of whom will be proposed by the President of the country, 1 by the Ministry of Justice, 1 by the Supreme Council of Magistrates, 1 by the Supreme Council of Prosecutors and 1 by the Attorney General. Based on the results of the assessment of the achievements of the Attorney General, the Commission for the Assessment of the Attorney General's achievements will draw up a motivated report, which will give one of the following assessments: “good”, “very good”, “excellent”, “bad”. A report with the score obtained will be submitted to the Superior Council of Prosecutors. It was stipulated that in case of receiving a “bad” rating, the Supreme Council of Prosecutors will propose to the President of Moldova to dismiss the Prosecutor General. At the same time, the Supreme Council of Prosecutors may motivated to demand a repeated procedure for assessing achievements if it considers that the assessment of the commission was carried out in violation of the procedure, and the violation had a decisive influence on the result of the assessment. When re-evaluating, the commission will be obliged to take into account the comments of the Superior Council of Prosecutors. Amendments to the Law on the Prosecutor's Office also supplement this law with a new article concerning the specific norms of disciplinary responsibility of the Prosecutor General and providing that the Prosecutor General can be brought to disciplinary responsibility and, depending on the severity of the violations, by a decision of the High Council of Prosecutors, one of the following disciplinary punishments can be applied to him : a warning; rebuke; dismissal of the prosecutor general. A disciplinary procedure can be initiated by at least three members of the Supreme Council of Prosecutors, by the President of Moldova as a result of petitions / appeals, or by a commission evaluating the achievements of the Prosecutor General, in case of reasonable suspicion of disciplinary violations. In addition, the bill provides for the possibility of removing the Prosecutor General from office if a criminal case is initiated against him/her. In this case, the President of the country, at the suggestion of the Supreme Council of Prosecutors, will appoint an interim prosecutor general for the period of suspension of powers. "The introduction of provisions on assessing the achievements of the Prosecutor General, as well as provisions on the application of disciplinary liability to him, is intended to ensure accountability of the Prosecutor's Office and its leadership and establish a balance of powers and control between the Prosecutor General and the Supreme Council of Prosecutors," the authors of the legislative initiative said. As the Minister of Justice Sergiu Litvinenco noted, in accordance with the current legal provisions, the activities of the Prosecutor General are deprived of any form of effective control and any monitoring procedure to determine whether he/she is fulfilling his/her legal duties in good faith and in the interests of the state, or, conversely, acting in benefit of certain interests and / or criminal groups. “In other words, it is impossible to punish the Prosecutor General, even if, for example, he/she does not take any action for 7 years or, depending on the circumstances, for 7 years acts exclusively in favor of oligarchic groups,” the head of the Ministry of Justice said.// 13.08.2021 — InfoMarket
