Moldovan parliament appoints two international experts to prosecutors' evaluation commission

The parliament today appointed, with 53 votes, two international experts to the commission for external evaluation of prosecutors. The decision was criticized by the parliamentary opposition, which said that it had challenged the act at the Constitutional Court.

Thus, Bernard Lavigne and Herman von Hebel, proposed by development partners, were appointed as members of the commission for the external evaluation of the ethical and financial integrity of prosecutors.

Bernard Lavigne was appointed as member of the commission for external evaluation of prosecutors starting from 1 May 2026. He has over 40 years of experience in the French and international judicial systems, particularly as a judicial police officer and magistrate (judge, prosecutor, prosecutor general).

Herman von Hebel has previously served as chair of the commission for external evaluation of judges and took part in the external evaluation of candidates for positions of members of the Superior Council of Magistracy (CSM) and the Superior Council of Prosecutors (CSP). Herman von Hebel has 17 years of experience in four international criminal courts and 10 years of experience as legal adviser at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Justice of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on human rights, international humanitarian law, and criminal law. Previously, he worked on projects in Albania, Ukraine, Georgia, Indonesia and in conflict-affected countries.

After the vote, the parliamentary opposition held a press conference, during which it announced that it did not agree with the appointment of the two members, calling the vote “a disgrace.” The MPs said they would inform embassies and development partners about the today’s vote.

MP Ion Chicu said that the vote given in parliament by the ruling majority for the two candidates discredited the justice reform and noted that he had filed a notification with the Constitutional Court.

MP Vlad Batrancea said that all five opposition factions had made a call to the partners to resume discussions and find a consensus to continue the justice reform, which is very important. He asked for meetings with the EU ambassador and with the ambassadors of partner states.

The commission for external evaluation of prosecutors was established to carry out the evaluation of the ethical and financial integrity of certain categories of prosecutors of Moldova, including the leadership of the Prosecutor General’s Office and prosecutors from specialized prosecutor’s offices.

The commission is made up of nine members, five of whom are proposed by development partners. The members of the commission are appointed by parliament with a 3/5 majority of MPs. If the candidates proposed by development partners do not receive 61 votes, the legal commission for appointments and immunities re-examines the proposed candidates and selects those who have got the highest number of votes. If the same candidates are selected again, they may be appointed by parliament with the vote of the majority of elected MPs.