MYTHS OF JUSTICE REFORM IN MOLDOVA that, apart from reforming the SCJ, the draft combined the assignment of new competences/functions to the SCJ with a reduction in the number of judges and a vetting process (§43-44). 6 Against the backdrop of discussions about a reform that was little understood by judges, in September 2019, the judges called an extraordinary General Assembly to revoke the man­dates of the SCM’s judge members, considering that they no longer represented them. In the judges’ dispute with the members of the SCM, the Government has defended the Council at every turn. It ve­hemently criticized the Extraordinary General Assembly of September 2019 and encouraged judges not to attend the following assembly announced for October, at which new members of the SCM were to be elected from among judges. In October 2019, judges turned up in insufficient numbers and the assembly was not deliberative. The President of the LRCM, which has played an important role in the subsequent process of judicial reform, announced that politicians could “bulldoze” into the judiciary because of the extraordinary assemblies of the judges. Three years later, the“bulldozing” threats of the President of the LRCM were repeated, with the addition of predictions of a“war between politics and justice”, but this was already evident in relation to the speed of exami­nation of high-profile criminal cases. CASE STUDY 1. Vladislav Gribincea, President of the LRCM, warns:“Politicians could bulldoze into justice” Radio Chisinau, 25 October 2019, Vladislav Gribincea: Disputes in the judiciary could make politicians“bulldoze into justice” 7 “The Cotidianul publishes the opinion of Vladislav Gribincea,[...], who ar­gues that disputes in the judiciary could make politicians“bulldoze into justice”. He argues in a Facebook post that the GAJ from 27 September was not legal, just as today’s meeting, where new members of the SCM are to be elected, will not be legal. In his opinion, the way out of this im­passe can only be the resignation of the current members of the SCM and the election of new ones, but not today.” Politik.md, 20 September 2022, Expert: If judges don’t do their job, politicians could bulldoze into justice. 8 “Vladislav Gribincea, President of the LRCM, anticipates a war between politics and justice.[...] the expert said that what is happening in the ju­diciary in terms of case examination is hard to understand, and as an ex­ample, the expert brought the Ilan Shor’s case. Gribincea also says that aspects related to the examination of cases must be monitored, and if judges do not do their job, politicians could bulldoze into justice.” “I don’t believe that the current Government controls what happens in the justice system. At the same time, the judges have to do their job in re­lation to how they carry out these procedures regarding the case exami­nation. I would carefully monitor this aspect, and if the judges don’t do their job, they should not get upset that politicians will then bulldoze the justice system.[...]”, said Vladislav Gribincea. The Venice Commission issued an opinion recognizing the legitimacy of the composition of the SCM, and in November 2019, Commission President Gianni Buquicchio called on the institutions of the Republic of Moldova to work together to ensure the independence and integrity of the judiciary. 9 After the failure to revoke the mandates of the SCM members, the Council turned the self-cleansing of the judiciary into a “witch-hunt” against participants of the extraordinary general assemblies, in a remarkable collaboration with the GPO and the officers of the Intelligence and Security Service(SIS) 10 . Shortly afterwards, several criminal cases on illicit enrichment charges were brought against the judges elected to conduct the work of the extraordinary meetings, the secretaries of the extraordinary meetings, and the vote-counting committee of the extraordinary meetings. It should be noted that none of the cases brought against those magistrates have been brought to court. In the years that followed, the political configuration and commitments to the previously announced reforms changed several times, and presidential and parliamentary elections followed. Representatives of the Action and Solidarity Party (PAS), whether in Government or in opposition, stopped mak­ing accusations against the SCM, thus helping it to survive the extraordinary General Assemblies of Judges in 2019. Instead, they have continued to systematically accuse judges and the judiciary as a whole of failing to cleanse itself. The political discourse regarding justice reform thus became a paradox­ical one, in which the judiciary was considered to be“bad”, being blamed for not having cleaned itself, while the SCM was always“good”, even though it had all the levers for the so-called“self-cleansing” of the judiciary. In the meantime, the term of office of several member-judg­es of the SCM expired. They were expected to be replaced at the GAJ, which is held in the ordinary way every year. Between 2019 and 2022, however, no ordinary General Assemblies of Judges were convened, as they were banned by the Government through the Commission for Exceptional Situations, which invoked pandemic restrictions in this regard, even though parliamentary and governmental activity was not banned during the same period. In 2021-2022, the Government identified and announced a reform inspired by the Albanian experience of reforming the judicial system of extraordinary external evaluation of judges 6 https://www.venice.coe.int/webforms/documents/?pdf=CDL-AD(2022) 7 https://radiochisinau.md/vladislav-gribincea-disputele-din-sistemul-judecatoresc-ar-putea-face-ca-politicienii-sa-intre-cu-buldozerul-in-justitie-revis­ta-presei---97535.html 8 https://politik.md/expert-daca-judecatorii-nu-si-vor-face-treaba-politicienii-ar-putea-intra-cu-buldozerul-peste-justitie/ 9 https://www.venice.coe.int/webforms/events/?id=2860 10 See, for instance, detention of the president of the Balti Court of Appeal; https://anticoruptie.md/ro/dosare-de-coruptie/sis-si-procurorii-anticorup­tie-au-descins-la-biroul-si-acasa-la-judecatorul-alexandru-gheorghies-din-cadrul-curtii-de-apel-balti-scandalurile-in-care-a-fost-implicat-magistratul 15