In view of recent legislative amendments regarding the pre-vetting process, the Independent Commission for Evaluating Integrity of Candidates for Members of Self-governing Bodies of Judges and Prosecutors” (hereinafter “Commission”) has issued the following clarifications regarding the management of information collected during the evaluation process.
All candidates evaluated under Law No. 26/2022 have the right to access the evaluation materials prior to the hearing or in the context of challenging the Commission’s decision. Initially, the Commission included all relevant materials in the evaluation materials file shared with the candidate. Following the instructions from the Supreme Court of Justice in the context of the appeals proceedings regarding the Commission’s decisions, the Commission changed its practice and since August 2023 includes all materials collected during the evaluation process in the candidate’s evaluation file. In all appeals of the Commission’s decisions (initial or resumed evaluation decisions), a copy of the candidate’s evaluation file has been provided to the candidate and the Supreme Court of Justice.
All evaluation materials are kept by the Commission in electronic format. Paper documents are scanned and digitalized, and included in the candidate’s evaluation file. A paper copy of evaluation materials is provided to the candidate, upon request, and, in case of appeal, to the Supreme Court of Justice.
To date the Commission has not destroyed any evaluation materials since its mandate has not ended yet. The Commission’s mandate will end when the last appeal against its decisions will be finalized by the Supreme Court of Justice. Currently, there are eight pending appeals before the Supreme Court of Justice. Given the recent legislative amendments, the Commission will amend its Rules of Procedure to send the evaluation materials to the Superior Council of Magistracy and Superior Council of Prosecutors, accordingly, prior to their destruction. The Commission will inform the public about this aspect.
