The Vetting Commission has completed 50 evaluations as part of its integrity checks of sitting judges and legal professionals. The results of the assessments show that the most frequent cause of non-promotion is financial discrepancies. In many cases, significant discrepancies were found between the declared wealth, expenses and income of the subjects, IPN reports.

According to a press release issued by the Vetting Commission, in most cases the discrepancies exceeded the amount allowed by law, and subjects who could not justify the source of some of their income did not pass the assessment.

In relation to ethical integrity, some assessments revealed breaches of the rules of professional ethics and conduct, including conflicts of interest incompatible with the position of judge.

Out of the 50 completed evaluations, the Commission adopted decisions in 26 of the cases and approved evaluation reports in the other 24 cases. These contain the preliminary conclusions of the assessment process and are forwarded to the Higher Council of the Magistracy (CSM) for consideration and decision on promotion or non-promotion.

The Vetting Commission does not assess the professional competence of judges and candidates and does not rule on the legality of their decisions. However, the Vetting Commission has considered whether the subjects have behaved arbitrarily or issued arbitrary acts contrary to the law, and the European Court of Human Rights has found that such acts violate fundamental rights.