Background
In 2021, the government of the Republic of Moldova started the justice sector reform, aiming to ensure integrity and accountability of justice sector stakeholders and to increase society’s trust in the justice sector. As part of the justice sector reform, the government decided to conduct an extraordinary vetting exercise of judges and prosecutors, to improve the integrity in the justice sector.
This vetting process is a unique endeavour for the Moldovan society. It is a thorough and tough process that can happen only once in a good way. It asks a lot of society: there might be temporarily limited capacity in the justice sector, and it can have substantial consequences for personal careers. Yet it is also a historic process, that works towards the betterment of the Moldovan justice sector and will therefore have positive impact on Moldovan society in the end.
Subject to the adoption of necessary legislation in Moldova, this vetting process takes place in three steps with three commissions:
Commission 1: the pre-vetting. This Commission started its work in 2022 and focuses on pre-vetting the candidates to the Superior Council of the Magistracy and the Superior Council of Prosecution. The pre-vetting procedures are ongoing.
Commission 2: the vetting of judges. This Commission is expected to start its work in Spring/Summer 2023 and focuses on the vetting of judges.
Commission 3: the vetting of prosecutors. This Commission is expected to start its work in Summer/Fall 2023 and focuses on vetting the prosecution service.
Each Commission consists of three international members and three national members, and is supported by a Secretariat, comprising analysts/investigators and support staff (administrative, PR, ICT, translators/interpreters).
The Center for International Legal Cooperation (CILC) is assigned by the European Commission and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to facilitate the Commission on the vetting of judges (also known as ‘Commission 2’) and its Secretariat. CILC is now starting to build a team of professionals to staff this Secretariat. This call for experts aims to create a shortlist of motivated and qualified people for the following position of LEGAL ADVISOR:
The Commission members and the Secretariat will work in tandem on the vetting process. As a legal advisor to members of the Commission, you will work directly with the Commission members and the analysts and assist their work where needed, particularly from the legal side. At the same time, you are also part of the Secretariat, herewith forming a linking pin between the Commission and Secretariat. The legal advisor will report to the members of the Commission, to the Head of the Secretariat, and to the Senior Legal Advisor. As an advisor, being service-oriented and meticulous in your work and communication are the most important qualities.
You will be responsible for assisting the Commission directly in its work, which includes but is not limited to:
As a legal advisor, the following criteria make you eligible:
Please include a short explanatory note with your motivation for this position to your application.
Applicants should be aware of the following:
Expressions of interest can be submitted via email only, via secretariat@cilc.nl. The deadline for submitting the applications is 25th of January 2024. Applications submitted to other mail addresses will be excluded from consideration. Required documents include:
Please include in the subject of the email for which position you express your interest.
For each position, CILC will choose from the pool of expressions of interests the people who fit the positions best, against the criteria of:
Only short-listed candidates will be contacted. Short-listed candidates will be invited for an (online) interview. A background check will be part of the recruitment procedure.
By signing the Declaration on Honour, you declare not being in any of the below situations: