Members of the Superior Council of Prosecutors (SCP) met on Wednesday, February 28, in a meeting. The SCP was to approve the results of the public competition for the selection of the candidate for the position of Prosecutor General, according to which Octavian Iachimovschi was selected to be evaluated and then appointed, but the competition was cancelled.

UPDATE 14:28 The SCP revoked the decision of 22 February on the results of the interview test in the competition for the selection of the candidate for the post of Prosecutor General, “in connection with the facts that have subsequently occurred and in order not to endanger the public interest”.

Thus, the competition was terminated, “with the subsequent initiation of a new competition”.

Igor Demciucin’s request for his file to be sent to the Vetting Committee was rejected.

SCP chairman Dumitru Obadă said SCP members worked for 11 hours on 22 February, when the interviews took place, with breaks of a few minutes.

“At the end of this exercise we withdrew in deliberation, the technical averaging of the score given by each member of the SCP took place. At that stage, the scores awarded by each member of the SCP per assessment criterion for each of the 4 candidates were not examined. None of the sheets that were completed on the evening of that day were debated or analysed from the point of view of the score offered.

(…) There was a major discrepancy that was not covered from the perspective of the argument, why one of the candidates was disqualified. This circumstance is extremely important by virtue of the priorities of the mandate that each of us assumed when we took office: to conduct a public, transparent competition based on the principles of meritocracy (…).

The Council unanimously decided to tip the balance in the public interest.

(…) This is why we have taken the responsibility to put an end to the competition today, to rethink the mechanisms, including the regulations governing this exercise”, explained Obadă.

UPDATE 12:30 In the context of the requests submitted by the candidates for the post of Prosecutor General, Ion Munteanu, Igor Demciucin and Octavian Iachimovsci, the SCP decided at its meeting on 28 February to publish the total score per candidate’s file. This represents the arithmetic average of the scores awarded for each criterion by each member of the Council who assessed the candidate.

From the results published by the SCP, acting Prosecutor General Ion Munteanu received his lowest score of 3.5 from SCP member Olesea Vîrlan and the highest – from SCP President Dumitru Obadă, 9.5.

Igor Demciucin received the lowest score from CSP member Elena Rosioru – 7.8. Olesea Virlan gave Demciucin the highest score – 9.3.

Octavian Iachimovschi, who was selected by the SCP to be evaluated by the Vetting Commission and submitted to the President for appointment, was rated 9 and above by four of the nine members.

Acting President of the Superior Council of Magistracy Sergiu Caraman and SCP member Andrei Cebotari gave the highest score to Iachimovschi and the lowest to Andrei Coca.

Most members of the SCP, including Justice Minister Veronica Mihailov-Moraru, SCP President Dumitru Obada and members Eduard Panea, Elena Rosior and Svetalana Balmuș gave the most points to Ion Munteanu and the fewest to Andrei Coca.

SCP member Rodica Ciobanu gave Iachimovschi and Munteanu the same score – 9.16.

UPDATE 11:07 After a 15-minute break, the SCP members began to examine Igor Demciucin’s request that the SCP send his file to the Vetting Commission for external evaluation of his ethical and financial integrity. Council members are in deliberations.

UPDATE 10:47 SCP rejects the requests of Ion Munteanu, Octavian Iachimovschi and Igor Demciucin for the release of copies of the evaluation sheets for each criterion of the competition candidates.

“(…) Examining the requests of the candidates for the position of Prosecutor General Ion Munteanu and Octavian Iachimovschi for the publication of the score per criterion awarded, which was addressed to the Superior Council of Prosecutors, also examining the requests of Ion Munteanu, Octavian Iachimovschi and Igor Demciucin for the release of the evaluation sheets for each candidate, the SCP, by unanimous vote, decided:

• to grant in part the requests of Ion Munteanu and Octavian Iachimovschi for the public release of their scores from the interview on 22 February 2024;
• to publish on the SCP website the table of the total score per candidate’s file, which represents the arithmetic average of the score awarded for each criterion that was totalled at the meeting of 22 February 2024.
• reject the requests of Mr Ion Munteanu, Octavian Iachimovschi and Igor Demciucin for the release of copies of the evaluation sheets for each criterion of the candidates in the competition”, said the Chairperson of the SCP.

UPDATE 09:54 Council members moved on to examine the applications submitted by Acting Prosecutor General Ion Munteanu. One requesting the release of copies of the evaluation sheets of the candidates for the position of Prosecutor General, completed by the members of the SCP, and the second – their publication on the SCP website.

“(…) Given that all kinds of suspicions are being fuelled about this competition, in order to remove them, to show the public what the result of the competition score is, I believe that the candidates’ request should be accepted. Most of the candidates have requested this from the SCP and because this competition must be carried out in a transparent manner as stated in the rules, I will also agree with the opinion of the President of the SCP and will vote “for”, said the acting President of the SCP, Sergiu Caraman.

“I absolutely agree that we should make public the sheets, the arguments and the borders, because I am absolutely convinced that it was done correctly and that the marking was done objectively. I understand that there are certain constraints in the regulation regarding the sheets (…)”, said Justice Minister Veronica Mihailov-Moraru.

UPDATE 09:50 SCP rejects the second application submitted by candidate Igor Demciucin.

UPDATE 09:41 The SCP is examining the second request submitted by Igor Demciucin for the exclusion of the evaluation sheet completed by the Minister of Justice, Veronica Mihailov-Moraru.

The Minister of Justice has stated that the request is unfounded.

UPDATE 09:38 The Council rejected the request submitted by Igor Demciucin for the exclusion of the evaluation sheet completed by the Chair of the SCP, Dumitru Obada.

“(…) The request for the exclusion of the evaluation sheet completed by the SCP chairman, Dumitru Obada, is rejected as unfounded,” said SCP member Olesea Vîrlan.

UPDATE 09:01 Members of the SCP have entered into deliberations.

UPDATE 08:50 SCP Chairman Dumitru Obada withdrew from the examination of Igor Demciucin’s application.

UPDATE 08:40 Igor Demciucin logged online to the meeting. He asked the Council to exclude the evaluation sheets of the candidates drawn up by the Minister of Justice, Veronica Mihailov-Moraru, and the President of the SCP, Dumitru Obadă. He also asked the SCP to send his file to the Vetting Commission for external evaluation of his ethical and financial integrity.

UPDATE 08:30 At the beginning of the meeting, Octavian Iachimovschi made a request in the context of the competition for the selection of the candidate for the position of Prosecutor General. The prosecutor asked the Council to provide him with the evaluation sheets, annexed to the Regulation on the organisation of the competition for the position of Prosecutor General, as well as the publication of the marks awarded by the SCP members.

“(…) My request is based on the provisions and principles of the organisation of this competition, mainly the principle of legality and the principle of transparency. I am convinced that my request is also in line with the desire of many members of the SCP to ensure that this competition was a transparent one and that it was one that can provide credibility (…) The Council now has every opportunity to prove to those who stand in unanimity and discredit the justice reform that it is in fact a credible body,” said Octavian Iachimovschi.

On 22 February, the SCP meeting held the interview of candidates in the competition for the post of Prosecutor General. According to the Regulation on the organization and conduct of the competition, the candidate for the position of Prosecutor General is evaluated, during the interview session, on the basis of the following criteria:

• the concept of management and institutional development;
• motivation for taking up the post of Prosecutor General;
• professional experience and competence;
• ability to analyse critically and communicate publicly;
• institutional commitment to professional values;
• integrity, ethics and good reputation.

Following the interview procedure on the basis of the pre-established assessment criteria, the Council decided to award the following final marks:

• Octavian Iachimovschi – 8.53;
• Igor Demciucin – 8.19;
• Ion Munteanu – 8.16;
• Andrei Coca – 4.72.

Thus, the SCP took note of the average score per candidate. Anti-corruption prosecutor Octavian Iachimovschi , the one with the highest score, is to be evaluated by the Vetting Commission, and if he passes the evaluation of financial and ethical integrity, he will be appointed as Prosecutor General.

Octavian Iachimovschi began his career with the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (PA) in June 2011. He held the position of acting deputy to the head of the PA, but in December 2019 the then Prosecutor General Alexandr Stoianoglo suspended his appointment order on the grounds that he needed to focus on the Bank Fraud case. In September 2022, he sent a request to the then acting Prosecutor General Dumitru Robu asking for his withdrawal and the appointment of another head of the prosecution group in the “Bank Fraud” case. As of March 2023, Iachimovschi returns to the position of acting deputy head of the PA, at the proposal of acting Prosecutor General Ion Munteanu. In 2022, Iachimovschi ran for head of the PA, coming second with 53.01 points, while Veronica Dragalin scored 72.15 points and was elected head of the institution.

During 2020, four disciplinary proceedings were initiated against Prosecutor Iachimovschi regarding alleged disciplinary misconduct admitted in the exercise of duties in the framework of criminal prosecution and one disciplinary proceeding for alleged actions in violation of ethical rules that damaged the honour and prestige of the Prosecutor’s Office. The cases were merged into a single procedure, which was subsequently terminated.

Iachimovschi is listed as a founder of the Association of Prosecutors for Order and Justice, formed in September 2019. Prosecutors Dumitru Obada and Yuri Lealin are two other co-founders of the Association, which, according to its statute, was created “with a view to jointly achieving goals aimed at fostering a constructive inter-institutional dialogue, as well as with civil society, which would contribute to the building of a Rule of Law for the triumph of the desires of justice and equity”.