Team of the National Institute of Justice of the Republic of Moldova, consisting of candidates to the positions of judge and prosecutor, won the Special Jury Prize „Fighters for Judicial Integrity in Moldova” and „Audience Honorary Award” at the prestigious THEMIS Competition of the European Judicial Training Network (EJTN). The competition took place between July 4-7, 2023, in Krakow, within the National School of Judges and Prosecutors of the Republic of Poland.
NIJ graduates of this year's promotion – Tatiana Brumă, candidate to the position of judge, Cătălin Lisii, candidate to the position of prosecutor, and Svetlana Leontieva, candidate to the position of prosecutor, mentored by Armen Oganesean, prosecutor, NIJ trainer, competed in the D semifinal „Judicial ethics and professional behavior”, with teams from nine other European countries: Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Italy, Kingdom of the Netherlands, Romania, Serbia and Hungary.
During the competition, the candidates to the positions of judge and prosecutor developed a written work on a topic relevant to the subject of the semifinal, presented it orally in English and interacted with members of the jury and the public in the debate session. The NIJ team prepared the topic „Vetting – the way to integrity for the Republic of Moldova”, which addressed issues regarding the extraordinary evaluation of judges in the Republic of Moldova, the concept of the verification process in our country as an institutional measure and the main stages in initiating and adapting the vetting process as a mechanism for verifying the integrity of judges.
Jury members – a UK judge, a Spanish prosecutor and a representative of the United Nations, assessed the quality, originality, critical thinking and anticipation of future solutions, the reference to the relevant case law, as well as the communication skills and consistency of those exposed.
The THEMIS School of Magistracy Competition is a unique event aimed at bringing together future judges and prosecutors from different European countries to enable them to share common values, exchange experience and discuss new perspectives in areas of common interest.
The participation of the NIJ team was possible with the support of the American Bar Association in the Republic of Moldova, within the Program Supporting the reform of criminal justice and the fight against corruption in the Republic of Moldova (February 2021-June 2024), implemented with the financial support of the Office for Combating Drug Trafficking and Law Enforcement of the US State Department and the US Embassy in Chisinau.
