Opinion on the draft Law amending Law no. 3/2016 on the prosecutor’s office (enforcement of the Decision of the Constitutional Court no. 13/2020)

This opinion is submitted as a response to the request from the Ministry of Justice for an opinion on the draft law amending certain normative acts in the context of the enforcement of the Decision of the Constitutional Court no. 13/2020 regarding the control of the constitutionality of some provisions of Law no. 3/2016 of February 25, 2016 on the prosecutor’s office, sent to IPRE and CRJM on July 4, 2020 (letter no. 03/4962).

Our conclusion is that the draft law goes beyond the initially declared area of regulation and intervenes on a series of new areas, which did not constitute the subject of constitutionality control by the Constitutional Court and set out in Decision no. 13/2020. Also, the proposed changes to the appointment of the Interim Prosecutor General need to be reviewed. We consider absolutely necessary to return to a comprehensive functional analysis before promoting changes related to the mode of access to office, transfer, reinstatement of special degrees, as well as other issues addressed in the draft law, and inclusion of additional provisions related to how to organize the contest for the position of Prosecutor General, including the scorings of candidates and their publication.

This opinion was prepared in the framework of the project „Support to the development and implementation of justice policies in the Republic of Moldova”, implemented by IPRE in partnership with CRJM, with the financial support of the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.