Title page 1

Contents 7

Foreword 4

Acknowledgements 5

Abbreviations and acronyms 11

Executive summary 13

1. Pathways to reform: Assessment and recommendations 15

1.1. Introduction and general assessment 16

1.2. Recommendations 17

1.2.1. Strengthening the sectoral governance of the justice system 17

1.2.2. Sustaining the governance value ecosystem: Safeguarding independence and reinforcing integrity, accountability and transparency 19

1.2.3. Managing resources and performance for effective justice delivery 20

1.2.4. Strengthening people-centred justice service as a foundation for sector reform 23

1.3. About the OECD Justice Review of the Republic of Moldova 25

1.3.1. Approach and methodology 25

1.3.2. Presentation of the Review 26

1.3.3. Presentation of the Review 27

References 28

Notes 28

2. Rule of law, democratic governance and European integration: Laying the foundations for a sound and trusted justice sector in Moldova 29

2.1. Rule of law as a shared value 30

2.1.1. The rule of law and integrity in Moldova 30

2.2. Justice and democratic governance: Building public trust 33

2.3. Responding to the needs of people: Justice as a public service 33

References 36

Notes 38

3. Governing the justice system in Moldova: Institutions, roles and strategies 39

3.1. Governance structure and institutional landscape 40

3.1.1. Constitutional foundations of judicial governance 40

3.1.2. Institutional role clarity and co-ordination 43

3.1.3. Clearer governance of the judiciary and court administration 46

3.2. Strategic vision and sectoral policy planning 48

3.2.1. National vision and strategies 48

3.2.2. Sectoral vision and justice strategy 49

3.3. Co-ordination and planning mechanisms in the justice sector 54

3.3.1. Whole-of-government mechanisms and horizontal co-ordination 54

3.3.2. Vertical co-ordination and central-local alignment 56

3.3.3. Co-ordination mechanisms for policy planning and development 57

3.3.4. Evidence-based and sectoral policy planning 61

3.4. Pathways to support reforms 62

References 67

Notes 69

Annex 3.A. Roles of justice institutions 70

4. The governance value ecosystem in Moldova: Balancing independence, integrity, accountability and transparency 75

4.1. Navigating the governance value ecosystem in Moldova 76

4.2. Strengthening and balancing impartiality, judicial independence and prosecutorial autonomy 77

4.2.1. Reinforcing independence through value-based safeguards 77

4.2.2. Constitutional and legal foundations 77

4.2.3. Institutional independence 78

4.2.4. Individual independence 79

4.2.5. Strengthening the role and legitimacy of the Superior Council of Magistracy in upholding independence 83

4.3. Building accountability and integrity without undermining independence 85

4.3.1. The complementary values of judicial independence and accountability 85

4.3.2. Strengthening integrity through appointment processes 85

4.3.3. Standards of conduct and ethics 88

4.3.4. Enhancing judicial performance evaluation 90

4.3.5. Disciplinary accountability: Strengthening judicial and prosecutorial responsibility 92

4.3.6. Management of conflicts of interest 95

4.4. Judicial values in tension: The case of the vetting process of Moldovan judges and prosecutors 99

4.4.1. International standards for judicial vetting 99

4.4.2. Upholding integrity without compromising efficiency 102

4.4.3. Reinforcing the legitimacy of the vetting process by addressing public perceptions and judicial safeguards 102

4.4.4. Improve accountability and independence of the Vetting Commissions: Clarifying liability and sanctions for members 103

4.4.5. Safeguard Vetting Commissions' integrity with clear and enforceable mechanisms for the monitoring and verification of asset and interest declarations 104

4.4.6. Improving access to data that supports the Vetting Commission's assessment 104

4.4.7. Looking ahead: Expanding SCM and SCP mandates to institutionalise the vetting process 106

4.5. Operational resources and capacity to sustain the value ecosystem 107

4.5.1. Securing judicial values through adequate resourcing 107

4.5.2. Independent and adequate funding: Safeguarding judicial performance through financial autonomy 108

4.5.3. Safeguarding judicial integrity through competitive compensation and conditions 109

4.6. Advancing transparency and civil society's participation and trust in the judiciary 111

4.6.1. Transparency and open justice 111

4.6.2. Engagement with civil society and the media 112

4.6.3. Building information integrity 114

4.6.4. Public communication for trust and resilience 114

4.6.5. Looking ahead 116

4.7. Pathways to support reforms 116

References 119

Notes 128

5. Managing resources and performance for effective justice delivery 133

5.1. Budgeting, financial management and infrastructure 134

5.1.1. A sound institutional and legal framework for justice budgeting 134

5.1.2. Medium-term budgeting and sectoral expenditure strategies 135

5.1.3. Justice budgeting and governance: Strengthening performance-informed approaches for resilience 138

5.1.4. Capital investment and infrastructure: Bridging the strategic gap 145

5.2. Human resources and institutional capacity 146

5.2.1. Justice workforce profile, planning and management 146

5.2.2. Recruitment, retention and career development 152

5.2.3. Training and capacity development: Challenges and opportunities in sector-wide training systems 154

5.2.4. Diversity and representation: Addressing imbalances in leadership to strengthen people-centred justice 156

5.3. Court performance and efficiency 157

5.3.1. Monitoring core indicators: From data to decision making 157

5.3.2. Improving clearance rates and reducing backlogs beyond the first instance 158

5.3.3. Balancing judicial workload and resource allocation 159

5.3.4. Reducing judicial workload through procedural and institutional innovation 165

5.3.5. Simplifying court procedures to improve efficiency and focus judicial time 168

5.4. Digital transformation and data governance 171

5.4.1. Digital infrastructure and tools in the justice system 171

5.4.2. Governance of digital reforms and end-user involvement 171

5.4.3. Data quality, interoperability and strategic use 173

5.4.4. Operationalising open justice through digitalisation 174

5.5. Pathways to support reforms 176

References 181

Notes 184

6. People-centred justice: Designing Moldova's service landscape 187

6.1. Understanding legal problems and barriers to justice in Moldova 188

6.2. Building an integrated continuum of services in Moldova 192

6.2.1. Towards a continuum of justice services 192

6.2.2. Prevention and early intervention 194

6.2.3. Entry points and first contact services 196

6.2.4. Dispute resolution and adjudication 200

6.2.5. Courts and judicial map 204

6.2.6. Implementation of judicial decisions against public authorities in Moldova 206

6.2.7. Enforcement and post-resolution support 207

6.3. Upgrading to a justice services map 209

6.3.1. From concept to implementation: A path forward 210

6.3.2. Co-ordinated and integrated service models 212

6.4. Pathways to support reforms 214

References 217

Notes 226

Annex 6.A. Additional good practice examples from Moldova and EU/OECD countries 230

Annex 6.B. Co-ordination within the justice system in Moldova: Example of the National System for Preventing and Combating Domestic Violence 237

Table 3.1. Moldova's performance in the 2025 World Justice Project Rule of Law Index: The "Constraints on Government Powers" factor's subcategories 43

Table 3.2. Distribution of Court Support Staff (2025) 46

Table 4.1. Criminal Proceedings against Judges (2025) 81

Table 4.2. Statistics on the handling of disciplinary cases, 2023-24 94

Table 4.3. Verification rate per category of officials 98

Table 4.4. Pre-vetting and vetting processes in Moldova 101

Table 4.5. Salaries of judges and comparison with country average salary 110

Table 5.1. Overview of key justice sector stakeholders involved in shaping budget for justice system 139

Table 5.2. Estimates for numbers of key justice professions (persons) 147

Table 5.3. Estimates for numbers of key justice professions (per 100 000 inhabitants) 148

Table 5.4. Core justice workforce in Moldova and Council of Europe (per 100 000 inhabitants) 148

Table 5.5. Distribution of judges per court level (per 100 000 inhabitants) 150

Table 5.6. Judicial post and vacancies across court levels (2025) 150

Table 5.7. Statistics on the selection process for judges 2023-2025 153

Table 5.8. Training of justice professionals in Moldova and Council of Europe (per professional) 155

Table 5.9. Women balance in the core justice workforce in Moldova and Council of Europe 156

Table 5.10. Disposition time in Moldova judiciary compared to CoE median (days) 158

Table 5.11. Caseloads in Moldova district courts in 2024 161

Table 5.12. Proposal for allocation of judicial positions in district courts based on actual needs 162

Table 5.13. Proposal for allocation of judicial positions in appeal courts based on actual needs 163

Table 5.14. Composition of the panel in appeal courts in selected EU countries 170

Table 5.15. ICT deployment and usage in Moldova and CoE 171

Table 6.1. Type of case referred to the National Council for State Guaranteed Legal Aid 201

Table 6.2. Disaggregated data on the beneficiaries of legal aid 201

Table 6.3. Number of geographical locations for courts and number of judges in courts 205

Table 6.4. Options for consolidating district court locations within existing infrastructure 206

Boxes 9

Box 3.1. Roles and responsibilities of the different branches of power as defined in Moldova's 1994 Constitution 40

Box 3.2. Constitutional tools to ensure the balance of powers between branches in Moldova 41

Box 3.3. The Constitutional Court of Moldova's interpretations of separation of powers, co-operation and constitutional loyalty 44

Box 3.4. Modernisation of staffing and case management 47

Box 3.5. Monitoring architecture of the Justice Sector Strategy 51

Box 3.6. Key roles of the Inter-Ministerial Committee for Strategic Planning in Moldova 55

Box 3.7. Key functions of the meetings of the Secretaries General in Moldova 56

Box 3.8. Consultative Council of the Ministry of Justice 58

Box 3.9. Anti-Corruption Platform 59

Box 3.10. Consultative Council for the Co-ordination of Justice Sector Digitalisation 59

Box 3.11. Platforms for co-operation with civil society in Moldova 61

Box 4.1. Balancing the criminal liability of judges and judicial independence 80

Box 4.2. General principles and criteria for the selection of judges in Moldova 86

Box 4.3. The Ethics Committee of Prosecutors in Croatia 89

Box 4.4. Examples of procedures for judicial selection and evaluation 92

Box 4.5. Judicial recusals in Moldova 95

Box 4.6. Deciding on motions for a judge's recusal in European countries 97

Box 4.7. The role of Judicial Councils in safeguarding integrity in judicial appointments 105

Box 4.8. Incorporation of technical expertise into evaluation 106

Box 4.9. Judicial compensation reform: Advances made, challenges ahead 111

Box 5.1. OECD Spending Better Framework 134

Box 5.2. Co-ordination structure of Moldova's medium-term budgetary framework 135

Box 5.3. Annual budget process for justice sector institutions 140

Box 5.4. Performance-based budgeting formula for courts in Moldova: Linking resources to caseload 141

Box 5.5. Rules under which re-allocations may occur during the fiscal year 144

Box 5.6. Judicial budgeting 144

Box 5.7. Justice workforce in Moldova 149

Box 5.8. Training of professionals 155

Box 5.9. Models for specialisation of administrative judges: The example of Slovenia 164

Box 5.10. Automated procedures for small claims in the United Kingdom, Germany and Romania 166

Box 5.11. Conditions for written procedures 169

Box 5.12. Examples from Estonian judiciary on addressing specific challenges with current ICMS functionalities 175

Box 6.1. Underserved groups identified in legal needs and justice problems surveys 188

Box 6.2. Mobile court in Canada 192

Box 6.3. Children in focus: Preventive community-based practice from Gagauzia 195

Box 6.4. Paralegals in OECD countries 198

Box 6.5. Tribunal for minors and family, Romania 203

Box 6.6. The Netherlands: A structured consultation model for access-to-justice reform 211

Annex Boxes 10

Annex Box 6.B.1. Legal needs and justice problems survey of children and youth in Moldova 241

Annex Box 6.B.2. Study on legal needs and justice problems of children in Northern Ireland 241

Annex Box 6.B.3. Diverse languages in courts 243

Annex Box 6.B.4. Best practices in responding to the legal needs and justice problems of the Roma community 246