Pöördumine

Dear Mrs Leichter-Tammisto,

I am writing on behalf of the Co-operation Programmes Division of the Council of Europe to seek your assistance in hosting a delegation from the Supreme Court of Justice of the Republic of Moldova (SCJ) in January 2025. This visit will be organised as part of the Council of Europe ongoing project, “Strengthening the Institutional Capacity of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Republic of Moldova,” aimed at supporting the implementation of judicial reforms and enhancing the SCJ’s ability to deliver justice in alignment with European standards.

The Moldovan SCJ has undergone significant reforms initiated by a new legislation on Supreme Court adopted in 2023. This reform represents a major overhaul of the SCJ’s structure and functions, underscoring the imperative need to support its institutional capacity. Key changes include reducing the number of judges from 33 to 20 and introducing judges’ positions for representatives from other legal professions, such as lawyers, prosecutors, and university professors in the field of law; revision of the role and internal organisation of the Supreme Court; narrowing the grounds for cassation in line with the new role of the SCJ; introduction of new tools aimed at insuring the consistency of court practice, etc. Judges of the SCJ, both sitting and candidates, are currently undergoing vetting (one-time exercise greenlighted by the Venice Commission), with a number of new judges appointed in June 2024. These changes are aimed to enhance the quality of judicial acts, establish effective mechanisms for unifying judicial practice, and ultimately increase public trust in the judiciary.

In light of this major reform, which was broadly inspired from the Estonian and Finnish Supreme Courts, the Council of Europe has intensified its support for the SCJ and launched a capacity-building bilateral project. As part of this initiative, we seek to establish peer exchanges with the Supreme Court of Estonia.

The plan is to facilitate an intensive exchange between Moldovan judges, judicial assistants, and supporting staff with their Estonian counterparts. The Moldovan Supreme Court is keen to learn from the Estonian experience, particularly regarding digitalisation, judicial drafting, transparency, and optimisation of Court’s operations, as well as strategic planning, communication, and institutional development. They are looking forward to gaining valuable insights into your work and practices across various domains, including:

• * Strategic documents of the Supreme Court of Estonia and their implementation

• * Regulation of the Court (which the Moldovan Supreme Court should also design soon)

• * Judicial writing

• * Unification of jurisprudence

• * Recruitment processes within the Court

• * Efficiency in judicial operations and court management

• * Communication and transparency practices

• * Relations with the public and communication strategies

• * Interactions with lower-instance courts and other public authorities of the country

• * Website management and equipment

• * Digitalisation efforts

• * International relations of the Supreme court

We expect that the delegation visiting Estonia will comprise a maximum of 15 persons, including two interpreters for English-Romanian translation and Council of Europe staff who will accompany the Moldovan delegation. The visit could be of 1.5-2 working days, we are flexible in this regard. Please note that all costs related to this visit will be borne by the Council of Europe project.

We would greatly appreciate your support in hosting the Moldovan delegation and facilitating this visit. Thank you for considering this request. We look forward to your positive response.

Best regards,