From September 1 this year, the judges in the municipality of Chisinau will have judicial assistants. The courts situated outside the capital city will employ assistants from January 1, 2013. The topic was discussed in a meeting of the working group for drafting legislation on the organization and functioning of the judicial system following the justice reform, Info-Prim Neo reports. A heated debate arouse between the attending judges and the representatives of the Ministry of Justice. Oleg Efrim said the Ministry proposed that the assistants should be specialized in different areas. “It is more rational for the assistants to be specialized in certain matters. When a judge examines a particular case, he may use the services of an assistant specialized in a certain area,” the minister explained. Lilia Ionita, deputy head of the Normative Documents Drafting Division, said it is not possible to provide every judge with an assistant as the costs will be too high. The attending judges did not agree with the minister. Nichifor Corochii, a member of the Supreme Council of Magistrates, said the judges demand having by a personal assistant because they have a heavy workload. Justice in the country is cheap. This is the reason why Moldova loses cases at the ECHR, said Nina Arabadji, judge in Chisinau’s Riscani district. She stated that she is to examine 500 cases and badly needs an assistant. In the end, those from the Ministry accepted the judges’ requests. Every judge will have by an assistant and this will be stipulated in the legislation. The costs of the project have not been estimated yet.