FRIEDRICH-EBERT-STIFTUNG THE PRE-VETTING PHASES: THE UNSEEN FACE OF JUSTICE REFORM 5 CHANGING THE RULES DURING THE GAME Summary: This chapter analyses the instability and frequent amendments of Law 26/2022, which regulates the pre-vetting process of candidates for the positions of members in the self-administrative bodies of judges and prosecutors of the Republic of Moldova. The law has been amended seven times in less than two years, with amendments aimed at extending the term of activity of the Pre-Vetting Commission, immunizing its members, excluding the evaluation deadlines, and changing the procedures for appealing the Commission’s decisions. This legislative instability has created a climate of uncertainty and affected the fairness of the process, as different rules have been applied to candidates at different stages of the procedure. The significant changes include the extension of the Commission’s mandate, including by increasing the budget, and the introduction of functional immunity for Commission members and Secretariat staff. Clear deadlines for the assessment of candidates were also removed and appeal procedures were narrowed to favour the Pre-Vetting Commission. The legislative changes and regulations have been interpreted not only as a way to protect the Commission, but also as an attempt to influence the legal processes in favour of the Government and dominant political parties, thus affecting the transparency and integrity of the evaluation. In addition, the proposal to destroy the documents collected by the Pre-Vetting Commission at the end of the evaluation process has sparked controversy as it poses a risk of manipulation and covering up of abuses. The process of evaluating candidates for membership of the self-administrative bodies of judges and prosecutors has taken much longer than advertised. During this period, Law 26/2022 on Pre-Vetting was amended seven times, including two times following the review of the constitutionality of the Law, and one time when it was subject to interpretation by the Parliament. This frequency of legislative interventions in less than two years was dictated by various fears of the Government and the Parliament that judges and prosecutors would succeed in having the Pre-Vetting Commission’s decisions overturned, boycott the general assemblies at which they were to elect the candidates who passed the assessment, or fail to support them in the numbers necessary to ensure their election to office. Other changes were aimed at making the work of the Pre-Vetting Commission more comfortable, such as extend­ing its mandate, changing the rigours of the evaluation, and narrowing the possibilities for judicial review of its work. The interventions created the perception of changing the rules of the game during the game itself, deprived Law 26/2022 of predictability and the security of legal relations, and dis­criminated against candidates to whom different rules and meanings of the same law were applied at different stages. 5.1 Extension of the Commission’s mandate Initially, the law provided that the work of the Pre-Vetting Commission continues until the evaluation of the last candidate is finalized, 94 but 15 months after the entry into force of the law this provision was repealed. 95 On the other hand, the mandate of the Pre-Vetting Commission derives from the provisions of Law 26/2022 on Pre-Vetting, and the application in time of the law and, implicitly, of the Commission’s mandate, was from the outset limited until 31 December 2022. 96 The nominal composition of the Pre-Vetting Commission was vot­ed by the Parliament on 4 April 2022. Therefore, the mandate of the Commission was initially foreseen to last almost eight months (04 April 2022—31 December 2022). This term was subsequently changed twice, and the term of the mandate of the Pre-Vetting Commission was also changed. Respectively, the maintenance budget of the Pre-Vetting Commission and its Secretariat was increased the first time by 1.75 times, and, after the second ex­tension, by at least three times compared to the initial budget. On 22 December 2022, the Parliament extended the term of ap­plication of the law until 30 June 2023, 97 and, subsequently, on 94 Art. 3(8) in the original version of Law 26/2022 on Pre-Vetting. 95 Art. 25 paragraph(7) item 2 of Law 147/2023 of 9 June 2023 on the Selection and Evaluation of Performance of judges, which abrogated paragraph(8) of Article 3 of the Law 26 of 10 March 2022. 96 Art. 15 paragraph(1) in the original version of Law 26/2022 on Pre-Vetting. 97 Art. I point 6 of Law 354/2022 amending Law 26/2022 on Pre-Vetting. 38