Moldova could appoint a new prosecutor general by late August
The Republic of Moldova may have a new Prosecutor General by the end of August, if the selection process follows the legislation, Justice Minister Veronica Mihailov-Moraru announced after the Government meeting on July 9.
The competition for the election of the Prosecutor General has officially begun following the vacancy of this position. A deadline for submitting applications was set for July 21. According to the Law on the Prosecutor's Office and the regulations governing the competition, after this deadline passes, information will be requested from all authorized institutions based on the number of applications received. The admissibility of these applications will then be assessed, followed by interviews for the position of Prosecutor General. If a sufficient number of admissible applications are submitted, it is expected that the new prosecutor will be selected by the end of August.
Recently, in a TV interview, Dumitru Obadă, President of the Superior Council of Prosecutors (CSP), noted that the law requires the appointment of a Prosecutor General to occur within a maximum of six months from the declaration of the vacancy, meaning this must happen by November at the latest. Nonetheless, Obadă emphasized the CSP's intention to complete the procedure by September.
As of now, no applications have been submitted; however, interested candidates can still participate in the competition until July 21 by submitting an application form, a motivation letter, and a management concept.
Obadă pointed out that the prolonged interim leadership at the Prosecutor General's Office leads to imbalances within the institution's operations as well as within the broader system.
Once the deadline for application submissions has passed, the CSP will publish the list of candidates who have been admitted to the interview within 20 days. Simultaneously, necessary opinions and information will be gathered from authorized institutions, including the National Integrity Authority, the Intelligence and Security Service, the National Anticorruption Center, and the medical committee.
According to the President of the CSP's estimations, the final list of candidates is expected to be published by August 11, with interviews scheduled to take place between August 11 and 15.
It's noteworthy that the position of Prosecutor General became vacant after Ion Munteanu was appointed as a judge at the Supreme Court of Justice. President Maia Sandu signed a decree on May 26 to dismiss him from office based on his resignation. Currently, the interim position of Prosecutor General is held by Alexandru Machidon, whose appointment was ordered by presidential decree at the recommendation of the Superior Council of Prosecutors.
