Effect of legal reforms in justice sector was minimum, expert

The adoption and application of the action plan for implementing the justice sector reform strategy determined actions and projects that contributed to positive changes inside the legal system. Even if many legal and institutional reforms were initiated in the justice sector in 2012, the authorities didn’t show will and capacity to implement profound reforms of a high quality, consider a group of experts from Chisinau, Info-Prim Neo reports. In a roundtable meeting, Igor Botan, executive director of the Association for Participatory Democracy (ADEPT), said that among the important actions taken in the legal system are the promotion of the procedural reform, judicial organization reform and reform concerning the status of judge, and the adoption of legislation regarding the selection and promotion of judges. “The number of judges at the Supreme Court of Justice was reduced. There were approved new units of the Court of Appeals and of judges. The work of a number of judges was facilitated by employing personal assistants. The work of the self-government bodies has improved. There were enhanced the procedure for disciplinarily punishing the violations of the legislation. The budget for justice in 2013 will be higher,” said the expert. According to Igor Botan, the effect of the legal and institutional reforms was yet minimum, while at social level the situation is perceived as worsening. “It is worrisome that after a year ‘full’ of reforms, the people now have the lowest dose of confidence in justice in the last decade, according to polls. No efficient joining of the efforts of representatives of the political authorities and the law enforcement bodies was ensured, and political and group influences continued to be exerted on justice, affecting the independence and credibility of the sector,” stated the expert. The opinions stated within the monitoring performed by the Association for Participatory Democracy and the Analytical Center “Expert-Grup” referred to the reforms implemented in the political, legal and economic spheres in 2012.