Vetting Commission faces candidate shortage for SCJ vacancies
With 103 finalized evaluations out of 183 notifications, including 63 promotions and 40 failed integrity tests, the Judges Vetting Commission is nearing the completion of the process for sitting judges. The evaluation deadlines for other categories have been extended.
Andrei Bivol, President of the Vetting Commission, highlighted a new systemic challenge during the 'ÎN CONTEXT' show on Moldova 1: the candidate shortage for vacant positions, especially at the Supreme Court of Justice (SCJ), a critical part of justice reform Moldova.
"Of the people who accepted to go through the evaluation procedure until its end, 55 - 60% were promoted. (...) Last week, we had 11 sessions, mostly on current presidents and vice-presidents of courts – the last category subject to evaluation. I believe that by the end of the year, we will finalize 100% of the evaluation of all sitting judges," announced Bivol on the public television station.
Bivol stated that the evaluation deadline extension concerns the candidates evaluated by the Judges' Selection and Evaluation College.
"There are also categories in the system, a category that we called the unknown – candidates who must fill the Supreme Court vacancies, Court of Appeal seats, and the presidencies and vice-presidencies of lower courts. I understand that we are still awaiting candidates from the Superior Council of Magistracy (CSM). All positions depend heavily on the Selection and Evaluation College, which must first assess the professionalism of the candidates. Only if those candidates meet the professionalism criteria are they forwarded to the Commission for evaluation. For this category, the deadline has been extended from December 31, 2025, to December 31, 2026," specified the President of the Vetting Commission.
Referring to re-evaluation cases, Bivol reiterated the need for additional investigations to maintain the credibility of the process and ensure judicial integrity.
"We had cases where candidates initially passed the evaluation, but after a re-evaluation ordered by the CSM, the result was negative. I believe that, currently, we have only one such case, and the answer is that the CSM asked certain questions and requested the investigation of supplementary circumstances," added the President of the Vetting Commission.
Assessing the pace of the reform, Andrei Bivol recalled the progress noted by the European Commission.
"We worked at an extremely intensive pace in 2023 - 2024 when we had the first conditionalities for opening negotiations and that obligation to finalize the evaluation of sitting judges of the Supreme Court of Justice and all candidates for the Superior Council of Magistracy and the Colleges. The European Commission noted good progress in the reform, namely the evaluation of judges. Currently, we have only one candidate for the Supreme Court of Justice, for whom we are to publish a report. Otherwise, the main problem we have had, at least in 2025, is the lack of candidates. We evaluated all initial candidates for the Supreme Court of Justice; there were 35 throughout 2024. From the positive reports, there were 13 or 16 in number. Of the total number of candidates who passed the evaluation, only five or six were appointed. The remainder failed to meet the professional competency criteria," specified the President of the Vetting Commission on Moldova 1.
The Judges' Evaluation Commission, also called the Vetting Commission, is an independent body created in the Republic of Moldova within the framework of justice reform. Its mission is to assess the financial, ethical, and professional integrity of judges and candidates for judicial positions.
In its two years of activity, the Commission has notified 181 subjects of external evaluation. According to data published by the institution, the overall pass rate among finalized evaluations is over 38%, while approximately 30% of the subjects resigned before the procedure was completed, and 9% withdrew voluntarily.
Currently, 15 evaluations are still underway, and five files have been submitted for re-evaluation.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
