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Of the 257 actions planned for implementing the justice sector reform strategy, 144 had been carried out by the end of 2013. Only 11 of the 45 actions that were to be implemented by the end of the fourth quarter of last year were carried out, shows the quarterly report No. 4 on the monitoring of the implementation of the justice sector reform, produced by Promo-LEX Association and the Association for Efficient and Responsible Governance.

In a news conference at IPN, Promo-LEX executive director Ion Manole said the adoption of certain laws does not mean achievement of the expected results. Two years after the launch of the strategy, the implementation of the reform in the justice sector became more latent.

Ion Manole referred to the dismissal of three judges who were to be transferred to another court following changes at the District Commercial Court. “The Supreme Council of Magistrates insisted that these judges should be discharged based on their resignation, but they didn’t submit resignations. Thus, they will benefit from all the social guarantees and allowances. These signals are very negative,” he stated.

According to Pavel Postica, program director at Promo-LEX, most of the actions from the strategy were implemented within pillar No. 6, which concerns the protection of the rights of victims in trials and of children in the legal system. The reformation of the prosecution service, ensuring of the inclusion of ex-convicted persons and improvement of the detention conditions are among the deficiencies.

Analyzing the performance of the institutions involved in the implementation of the justice sector reform over the first two years, it was established that the Ministry of Justice implemented slightly over 50% of the actions (93 actions were carried out and 70 were not).  The National Institute of Justice and the Prosecutor General’s Office have approximately the same implementation rate. The rates are better at the National Anticorruption Center and the Center for Human Rights of Moldova.

Olesea Stamate, head of the Association for Efficient and Responsible Governance, said that all the actions are implemented in a chain. If the first action is not carried out, the other actions are delayed. The consequences affect the attraction of investments and the creation of a favorable economic environment.

The report was compiled within the project “Increasing Government Accountability by Monitoring the Justice Sector Reform” that is implemented by Promo-LEX and the Association for Efficient and Responsible Governance, with financial support from the EU.