CHANGING THE RULES DURING THE GAME that could discredit the Evaluation Commission or cast doubt on the objectivity of its decisions. 112 Although neither the Law nor the Regulations of the Pre-Vetting Commission provide for the secrecy of the Secretariat’s employees, it was secretized by the Pre­Vetting Commission, preventing candidates from checking potential bias and from possibly declaring recusals to the Secretariat’s employees. Over the years, the Pre-Vetting Commission members and officials have brought up various arguments as to why the names of the Secretariat employees are not disclosed, includ­ing the fact that they were recruited and paid by development partners and that they need to be kept safe and away from any kind of influence. The Chair of the Parliament’s Committee on Legal Affairs, Appointments and Immunities, Olesea Stamate, expressed the opinion that this is a protective measure for the members of the Secretariat, that the members of the Secretariat have a very important role, as they are the ones who receive the primary information, analyse it, and propose to the members of the Commission the analytical note on each candidate, and that not making the names of the Secretariat employees public would protect them from attempts to influ­ence them and also from possible mischief by candidates who did not pass the pre-vetting. However, when asked by journalists whether members of the Secretariat of the Pre-Vetting Commission had complained about intimidation, the Commission denied any such cases. 113 Although they are supposed to be independent, journal­istic investigations have revealed the names of several people within the Secretariat. Some of these people have been found to have political connections in the Parliament, Government, and Presidency, as well as with people affil­iated to the main NGOs involved in the processes of pro­moting and monitoring the pre-vetting process, such as the LRCM and IPRE. Chirtoaca, President of the Legal Resource Centre, we learn that Burduja earned more than 300 thousand lei from her work in the Pre-Vetting Com­mission.[...] Cristina Pereteatcu, a human rights expert and former Direc­tor of Amnesty International, also worked in the Pre-Vetting Commission. In March 2023, Pereteatcu was appointed Secretary of State at the Min­istry of Energy.[...] The Co-Executive Director of the IPRE, Adrian Ermura­chi, also provided advice and training at the beginning of the Pre-Vetting Commission’s work. Ermurachi served from 2017 to 2021 as Deputy Secre­tary of the Government.[...] From the PAS Secretariat to the Secretariat of the Pre-Vetting Commission The members of the Secretariat also include inexperienced people.[...] Nadejda Hincu graduated from the law faculty in 2021. Hincu was imme­diately hired as an advisor in the PAS faction in Parliament. In reality, Na­dejda Hincu worked more in the Parliamentary Legal Committee. In a de­cision of the respective Committee dated 5 May 2022, Nadejda Hincu is mentioned as an adviser. She left this position in August 2022 when she was employed in the Secretariat of the Pre-Vetting Commission. The Chair of the parliamentary committee, Olesea Stamate, was annoyed when Iasked if she saw a problem in the fact that a former PAS faction ad­visor is today a member of the Secretariat.“And what is the problem? An ad­visor employed in the faction can be anyone, not just a PAS member. A per­son who has the necessary qualifications in a particular field. If you are going to ask how many of the fraction advisors are PAS members, you might be sur­prised that not all of them are PAS members. No offence! Shall we continue? [...]”, exclaimed Stamate. Vadim Vieru has a different opinion from the PAS MP.“A person who works in a Secretariat, in the Parliament, cannot be qualified, directly, as a politically affiliated person, as a party member. However, it doesn’t look good, and it can affect the process, the image, but also the trust in the Commission, when in the Secretariat of a Pre-Vetting Commission, which is an important Commission and which must be trusted, a person is employed who previously advised cer­tain politicians”, Vadim Vieru believes. Some of the judge candidates evaluated by the Pre-Vetting Commission reported half a year ago that their data in the records of the Public Service Agency had been accessed for the purpose of the pre-vetting evaluation by Parliament employees. According to the information in the virtual pri­vate cabinet, the information was accessed by the Parliament’s Secretar­iat, and in an official reply received by one of such judges, Alexei Panis, the Parliament informed him that the accessing of the data was in fact done by the staff of the Evaluation Commission. Apparently, this was someone who worked both in Parliament and in the Pre-Vetting Commission. 115 CASE STUDY 15. Member of the Secretariat of the Pre-Vetting Commission, Nadejda Hancu, moved from the Secretariat of the PAS faction to the Secretariat of the Pre-Vetting Commission tv8.md, Pre-Vetting Secrets. Recent scandal shows evaluations may have flaws in justice reform, 30 October 2023 114 Pre-Vetting Commission Secretariat members kept top secret [...] Analyst in the Commission Secretariat is Mihaela Burduja. For the past five years, Burduja has been working at the Soros Moldova Foundation, in charge of human rights. From the asset declaration of her husband Ilie CASE STUDY 16. Member of the Secretariat of the Pre­Vetting Commission, Constantin Mitu, who went from being an advisor in the Parliament’s Legal Committee and advisor to the President to a member of the Secretariat of the Pre­Vetting Commission Sppot.md, Pre-Vetting Secrets: the President’s person, 6 August 2024 116 “The situation regarding the delegation of members to the Secretariat of the Pre-Vetting Commission is shrouded in controversy and raises ques­tions about the transparency and integrity of this crucial process in[...] the Republic of Moldova. 112 Art.7 letter d) and e) of Law 26/2022 on Pre-Vetting. 113 https://sppot.md/justitie/secretele-pre-vettingului-omul-presedintelui/ 114 https://tv8.md/2023/10/30/video-investigatie-secretele-pre-vettingului-un-scandal-recent-arata-ca-evaluarile-pot-avea-lacune-in-reformarea-justiti­ei/242883 115 https://tv8.md/2023/30/10/video-investigatie-secretele-pre-vettingului-un-scandal-recent-arata-ca-evaluarile-pot-avea-lacune-in-reformarea-justiti­ei/242883 116 https://sppot.md/justitie/secretele-pre-vettingului-omul-presedintelui/ 41