The Legal Resources Centre from Moldova (LRCM) has analyzed the activity of the Superior Council of Magistracy (SCM) in the last year in order to track the changes in the organization and functioning of the institution following the investiture of the new composition of the Council, but also to check how the legislative changes of the last period are implemented.

According to the analytical note presented by the LRCM, the most significant shortcomings are found in the technical process of ensuring the transparency of the SCM meetings, which – although they have been improved through public and open proceedings – are not always accompanied by the consistent and timely publication of all minutes and summaries. In at least 45% of the meetings, incomplete publication of supporting documents was observed, of which for three meetings neither the minutes nor their summaries were published.

On the other hand, there has been a major improvement in the quality of the reasoned decisions of the SCM, which now include the number of votes cast in favor of and against. This practice has been recommended by the LRCM in previous monitoring reports, which criticized the concealment of this data by former SCM members. It was also noted that several separate opinions were written, with authors being both judge and non-judge members, which contributes to a better understanding of the reasoning behind the members’ votes.

“One of the positive developments was also recorded in the process of organizing competitions for the appointment of judges. It is a significant improvement both in terms of the transparency of the process and the qualitative assessment of candidates, which is carried out through a weighted scoring system, but also through more in-depth interviews, which previously were often a mere formality,” points out Ilie Chirtoacă, LRCM Executive Director and one of the authors of the analytical note.

Representatives of the SCM, who participated in the presentation of the paper, stated that the non-compliances found in the LRCM’s research are due to lack of staff, as currently about 54% of the positions needed by the institution are vacant.

“This study gives an objective picture of the SCM’s work over the last period and we are pleased that, in addition to criticizing our work, the experts have also identified the improvements we have managed to make in this short period. We will take these findings into account and, of course, one of our priorities will be to ensure that the institution is well staffed to meet all the standards,” said SCM member Ioana Chironeț.

The research published by the LRCM also comprises a series of practical and legislative recommendations aimed at improving the work of the Superior Council of Magistracy. These include updating the website, timely publication of decisions and acts relevant to the work of the SCM, filling vacancies, mainly in the specialized bodies of the SCM, and adopting a uniform approach to the granting of one-off allowances upon the dismissal of judges.

The legislative recommendations include bringing the legislation in line with the recent findings of the Constitutional Court, amending the SCM Law by transferring the powers to grant rest leave to presidents and vice-presidents of courts, as well as delegating judges to study visits or training sessions to the SCM president, and creating a legislative mechanism to integrate the experience and expertise of the external evaluation commissions.

The research developed by the LRCM covers the reference period from October 2023 to October 2024 and is a result of the continuous monitoring efforts of the SCM activity, similar studies being previously published between 2013 and 2020. More details can be found on this link.