Nicolae Timofti says judges should receive monthly salaries of €1 000 to €2 000

Moldova’s President Nicolae Timofti considers the monthly salary of a judge should be between €1 000 and €2 000, Info-Prim Neo reports. In the program “Replica” on Prime TV, he said that the pay of a novice judge must be set at minimum €1 000, of an experienced judge at €1 200, of the judges of the Court of Appeals at €1 500, while of the judges of the Supreme Court of Justice at €2 000. Nicolae Timofti stated these proposals form part of the measures aimed at reducing corruption, including in the judicial system. According to him, two things should be done to eliminate corruption in the justice sector - to combat the phenomenon of corruption, and to thoroughly select the judges. Corruption can be combated by increasing salaries, while the judges should be chosen by a special commission. The head of state also said that this commission should be constituted under the President, Parliament, or the Government and should consist of representatives of civil society, teachers, doctors, psychiatrists and psychologists. The commission’s proposals may be examined by the Supreme Council of Magistrates. Nicolae Timofti also referred to the property of judges, saying some of them earned it by hard work, including by working abroad in summer, while others will have to prove how they earned it. He said that he will ask the competent institutions to examine such cases, stressing that he felt he lived better after he started to receive the salary of judge together with the old age pension. The President stated that the Moldovan justice became independent after 1990, but lost its independence in 2001. According to him, until 2001 Moldova was convicted by the ECHR only two times, while afterward the number of convictions increased significantly. “Regretfully, a ‘reform’ started and many professional and honest judges were dismissed. I was among them. It was an unfavorable period for the Moldovan legal system. Some of the judges then fell under the influence of the power,” said Nicolae Timofti. He added that the judges should not be deprived of immunity and the reform in the justice sector initiated by the Alliance for European Integration should be continued.