Interview with the CEO of the National Institute of Justice, University Lecturer, and Doctor Habilitatus in Law Diana Scobioala

 

- This is the eternal question for those who have the courage to start something. Nobody puts this questionto those who are not interested in anything and do not aspire to anything. I am neither a judge nor a prosecutor, but for years I have been taking part in offering training to legal professionals in our Faculty of Law at the State University of Moldova; I am a specialist in international law; and I know and care for international law standards. For 17 consecutive years, I have being building my academic career. I also have a career of public officer, which helped me to develop managerial skills. I was the representative of Moldova in intergovernmental structures for legal and judicial cooperation from the Council of Europe. I was and still am a trainer at the NIJ, where I teach European Convention of Human Rights and the case law of the European Court. I am a member of the Judicial Performance Assessment Collegium at the Superior Council of Magistracy. All these shaped my vision of the training for judges and prosecutors, which motivated me to apply for the office of the CEO of the NIJ.

 

 

- The same thing that I tell to allmy students whenever I enter a training room as a trainer: that they are those who will have to change the public opinion about the Moldovan judiciary; that not only must justice be done but it must also be seen to be done. Trainees are the key to our success and they will be our failure if the perception does not change. This means that they are our priority and the management of the NIJ and trainers are ready to help them.

 

 

- At this moment some trainees still can challenge the marks they received at the first examination. All I can tell is that in comparison with last year, the aspiring prosecutors’ results are weaker, while those of aspiring judges are, on the contrary, better. Note, however, that “weaker” results at the NIJ mean a mark of around 8, which is rather good.

 

 

- Perhaps, you refer to the admission examination, which have been stirring journalists’ interest for a long time. Well, the members of the admission commission are not employees of the NIJ, as some may think. Only the secretary of the commission is a staff member of the NIJ, delegated at the proposal of its CEO. The commission is formed of one representative from the Superior Council of Magistracy, one from the Prosecutor General’s Office and three members proposed by the NIJ’s Board, which also represent various justice sector entities. Of these five members, the NIJ’s Board appoints the chairman.

 

First, another commission, formed of trainers from the NIJ, prepares examination cards and written tests 24 hours before the examinations. It is impossible to cheat, especially considering that during the written examination, comprising 100 questions on civil and civil procedure law and criminal and criminal procedure law, applicants in each training room are supervised by two representatives of the NIJ and one member of the examination commission. As for the viva voce tests, they are posted on the NIJ’s Web site well in advance of the examination.

As far as I know, there were no cases of cheating during the examinations at the NIJ. Do not forget that we are speaking here not about a baccalaureate examination but about an examination at the NIJ, where the applicants are adults with higher education and life experience…

 

 

- The period for submitting admission applications at the NIJ usually starts on July 1 and ends on August 1. The examinations start in September and the academic year on October 1. The number of trainees for each year is established by the Superior Council of Magistracy and the Superior Council of Prosecutors depending on the system’s needs estimated for the next year.

 

 

- Hopefully, with the enthusiasm nurtured by the transformations we are currently implementing. After the repair of the NIJ’s headquarters, we have more training rooms and intend to modernize their interior to make it more stimulating for creative activities. We have a much larger library with computers connected to the Internet and MoldLex. We are optimizing curriculums and the training plan to focus them on practical activities. We are going to have another evaluation of our trainers. Based on these evaluations and on the trainees’ suggestions we will change the training plan. For example, the internship period will no longer take place in summer, when most judges and prosecutors are on vacation, but in the last academic semester, after which trainees will come back to the NIJ to take graduation examinations. We expect many changes, including in the extracurricular activities for trainees. We want to involve them in scientific, research and even cultural activities.

 

 

- Hard to say. Everybody praises the incorruptibility of the Chinese administration and justice but nobody thought of inviting a Chinese prosecutor to work as a general prosecutor for Moldova. I would rather advocate for European training for Moldovan prosecutors and here we come to the NIJ, which has much room for improvement.

 

 

- First, I would like to clarify that this is a distance training course proposed to court clerks and initiated by the National School of Court Clerks from Romania, which proposed to cooperate with the NIJ from Moldova. We were only glad to accept this proposal received by the Superior Council of Magistracy through letter No. 2661 of November 10, 2014. During a meeting on the occasion of the inauguration of the Justice Palace in Iasi, Romania, on September 27, 2014, the Romanian counterpart proposed, as the first cooperation initiative, to admit court clerks from Moldova to this distance training course.

 

This discipline is particularly necessary for clerks, who prepare minutes of court hearings. However, after numerous requests, the list of beneficiaries was extended to other categories of specialists, including judicial assistants who prepare draft judgments. The training took place during the period of November 24, 2014 through January 21, 2015, and enjoyed much success. 35 of Moldovan participants passed the final test and will receive certificates during the forthcoming visit of a representative of the National School of Court Clerks from Bucuresti to the NIJ, Chisinau. Also then, given the interest in this subject, we will consider organizing another training round on this topic.

 

By the way, speaking about the cooperation with the Romanian counterpart. Last year, the NIJ signed a cooperation agreement with the National Institute of Magistracy from Bucuresti and recently a cooperation agreement with the National School of Court Clerks, which open wide opportunities for cooperation, including in e-learning. For example, now the NIJ and the National School of Court Clerks have unrestricted access each to the distance training platform of the other.

 

 

- It is regrettable if, as you say, court judgments contain many grammatical or linguistic errors. Of course, they are not written by linguists. In addition, as you know we are still struggling with the legacy of a period when Romanian was treated like a Cinderella. Hopefully, once the judiciary is replenished with new younger professionals who have studied in a better Romanian and had unlimited access to books and programs in Romanian, the situation will change. Anyway, as part of the initial training, the NIJ pays particular attention to a proper use of Romanian.

 

 

- Yes, I am the daughter of Iulia Sarcu and here I have nothing to reply but to thank God for this “coincidence.” It is really strange that journalists did not notice this “decisive fact” during other successful appointments in my career, which are included in my resume posted on the NIJ’s Web site (www.inj.md). For example, when I was appointed for 2 consecutive terms as a representative to the European Committee on Legal Cooperation or when I received the title “Professor of the Year” in 2012. I wonder, if I were not the daughter of Iulia Sarcu, would my resume still be sufficiently compatible with this office? As for those who were discouraged to take part in the competition, I have nothing but regret that they were not sufficiently perseverant to apply.

 

 

- Before becoming member of the Collegium, I had the same perception about the judicial system as most of the civil society. But now I must admit that my perception has changed. This job is difficult, complex and demanding. For two years I have been observing all courts of Moldova. I attended numerous court hearings. I saw the conditions judges work in, their workload and I objectively acknowledge that most of them are really good and manage their job well. I also acknowledge, without the intention to offence anybody, that our former trainees are different. They are well trained and dynamic. If they fail in terms of case clearance rate then they compensate this by the quality of justice administration, and this is great because their performance is our performance.

 

 

- Discovered? You must be joking! From Romans until these days everything in law has already been discovered! To discover something new I should have started a thesis in quantum physics. In law, we develop proposals and recommendations that can produce impact on the internal legal system. However, international law hardly tolerates such proposals and recommendations. I only dared to outline a new branch of the international law and to criticize a classical position that is well rooted in the international legal community.

 

 

- Oleg Balan is a remarkable person in Academia and not only in Moldova. He is a respectable professor in Romania, Ukraine, and Russia. I do not think that there is another ministry of home affairs that can boast a minister who is doctor habilitatus in international law and university professor. But do not rush into thinking that he is not properly qualified in police affairs. He studied at the Police Academy of Bucuresti and was the dean of the Police Academy of Chisinau. He is tough but fair. I can say that his presence at the ministry of home affairs will produce results very soon.

 

With the professor one can have either only good relationship or no relationship at all. He does not accept “unhealthy” compromises and does not tolerate lack of professionalism and disorder.

 

 

- Mafia is too strong a word for our small country but corruption, yes, unfortunately it exists. Perhaps, it functions just the same way it does in any other country.

 

 

- Simply. By mitigating risks by increasing teachers’ and professors’ wages. I am glad that the NIJ’s trainers are well paid for their job and, hopefully, the new draft legislative amendment submitted to the Parliament will not change this status quo. In our entity we have not noticed any cases of corruption.

 

 

- For absolutely natural reasons: the life, including all judicial events, is pulsing in this city. However, they ignore the reverse of the coin: the workload here is triple that in other regions. This is what I saw while working in the Judicial Performance Assessment Collegium. In Chisinau the case clearance rate is between 800 and 900 cases per year and in districts it varies between 200 and 300 cases per year.

 

 

- By no means. The NIJ is the place where they acquire expertise and skills required for these jobs. They study ethics and deontology. The test follows after the graduation. But maybe we also could do something in this regard. You gave me food for thought…

 

 

BIOGRAPHIC DATA:
Since2014, university lecturer, Administration Academy under the Government
Since2012, trainer at the National Institute of Justice
Since2006, university lecturer, tenured professor of the International Law and Foreign Economic Relations Law, Law Faculty, State University of Moldova
2004-2006 – acting university lecturer at the Law Faculty, State University of Moldova, Chisinau, francophone branch
2007-2011 – chief ofthe General Directorate for International Relations and European Integration, Ministry of Justice
2004-2007 – chief ofthe Main Government Agent Directorate, deputy chief officer of the International Relations and European Integration Department, Ministry of Justice
2004 – deputy director of the Government Agent and International Relations Directorate, Ministry of Justice, chief ofGovernment Agent Division.
2002–2004 – main specialist, Ministry of Justice, Government Agentand International Relations Directorate, Government Agent Department.
2013-prezent – elected member ofthe Judicial Performance Assessment Collegium of the Superior Council of Magistracy
2012-prezent – national coordinating officer of the Help Program of the Council of Europe
2012-2013 – representativeof the European Committee on Legal Cooperation of the Council of Europe (CDCJ).
2011-2012 – representativeof the CDCJ in the Consultative Committee of the Convention for the Protection of Individuals with regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data
2010 — 2011 – representativeof the CDCJ in the European Dialog on Internet Governance (EuroDig)
2010-2011 – representative of the CDCJ in the Internet Governance Forum (IGF)
2009-2013 – elected memberfor 2 consecutive terms in the Office of the CDCJ
2005-2012 – memberof the European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice of the Council of Europe
2005-2013 – member of the CDCJ

Author of 67 scientific and teaching methodology papers

Languages: French, Spanish, English