#Justice4Moldova Launches

A new IWPR joint initiative with the Institute for European Policies and Reforms (IPRE) will boost the role media and civil society play in ensuring the success of crucial justice reforms in Moldova.

Launched on July 12, 2023 in a public event in Chisinau, #Justice4Moldova is funded by the EU and Soros Foundation Moldova.

Moldova has faced multiple challenges to its justice sector, and the European Commission in its June 2022 opinion on Moldova’s application for EU membership laid out key reform priorities.

This is also held to be central to resolving Moldova’s long-standing problems with corruption.

“An effective, independent and transparent judiciary is one of the most important steps that the Republic of Moldova has to take to advance its European path,” EU ambassador to Moldova Jānis Mažeiks told the event, adding, “With this project, we want to highlight and assist the important role the Moldovan civil society plays in this reform process, ranging from policy advice to awareness campaigns, independent monitoring of concrete steps implementing justice and anti-corruption action plans – with the overall goal to increase public trust in the judiciary.”

“Our belief is that the more members of the society are engaged and informed about the ways of the government, the more a society can develop,” IWPR’s Europe, Asia and Eurasia director Alan Davis told participants. “Corruption and integrity questions are not a problem just for Moldova, they are an ongoing issue around the world. The public has shown intolerance for corruption in Moldova. Trust in the rule of law is the benchmark for all democracies, and the local civil society organisations and mass-media are essential for ensuring integrity and accountability.”

Project activities will include training journalists and activists to conduct and report on their independent monitoring of the upcoming vetting process for the countries judges and prosecutors.  Awareness raising and information campaigns will also help promote justice sector and anticorruption reforms, while technical assistance for justice and anticorruption institutions is also planned for later this year.

The event was attended by NGO representatives and media professionals as well as legal experts and officials.

Minister of Justice Veronica Mihailov-Moraru praised the project’s goals as “commendable,” adding, “The roadmap of the current government regarding the strategy for ensuring security and independence in the justice sector for the years 2023-2025 includes fairly complex reforms within the justice system, including the independence and integrity of justice actors.

“In the context of the Republic of Moldova being granted candidate status for accession to the EU, the role of civil society organisations and mass media becomes even more important, not only for our country but also for the prospects of Moldova’s accession to the EU.”