On Monday, February 26, 2024, at the National Institute of Justice, USAID anti-corruption experts were on a courtesy visit: Melissa Hooper and Andrew Solomon, who were accompanied by Otilia Bologan-Vieru, USAID Moldova legal program specialist, Kevin Laniga, senior advisor in the field of justice from Criminal Justice and Law Enforcement Section at the US Embassy in the Republic of Moldova, and Radu Foltea, the deputy task order lead within the JARA Project.
On this occasion, the ad interim Director of NIJ, Ecaterina Popa, reviewed the cooperation relations within the projects carried out with the support of USAID and American Government, being mentioned aspects regarding the training needs of the representatives of the legal system, the legislative changes regarding the National Institute of Justice, as well as the role of NIJ in the process of fulfilling the conditionalities of the Republic of Moldova to become a member state of the European Union.
A relevant point of the meeting concerned the anticorruption component. In particular, the importance of the legal training, on this segment, of the categories of NIJ beneficiaries was emphasized in order to ensure the integrity and transparency of the justice sector, according to the strategic documents.
Towards the end of the discussions, the parties appreciated the excellent level of the dialogue and emphasized the usefulness of intensifying cooperation in the field of legal training of future judges and prosecutors, as well as of current judges and prosecutors.
On behalf of the National Institute of Justice, Olga Marandici, adviser to the NIJ Director, head of the International Relations Section, also attended the meeting.
