Vetting Commission adopted amendments to its Rules of Organization and Functioning to streamline fairness and transparency in the vetting process

The Vetting Commission announces about the adoption of several amendments to its Rules of Organization and Functioning. The amendments are designed to streamline the accuracy and equity of the vetting procedure, in accordance with the Commission's mandate. Copies of the amended Rules have been sent to the judges and candidates for the position of judge who are now being evaluated by the Vetting Commission, and has been published, in Romanian and English, on Commission’s recently updated website at https://www.vettingmd.eu/en/vetting/internal-regulations

The amended Rules make the following changes:

·       With regard to recusal, clarifying in Article 10, para. (4) that the Commission will deny requests that do not meet the procedural requirements of the Rules or that seek the simultaneous recusal of all members, and in Article 11, para. (2) that Commission members who are recused do not participate in a vote.

·       With regard to the evaluation criteria, specifying in Article 11 para. (3) that unjustified wealth will be calculated consistent with the Annex based on 20 average salaries per economy in the amount determined by the Government for 2023.

·       With regard to the use of information from anonymous sources, adopting language in Article 19 para. (5) that conforms to language in recently enacted Law 252/2023.

·       With regard to the hearing rights of a person being evaluated, adopted language in Article 22 para. (8) that conforms to language in recently enacted Law 252/2023 on the right not to incriminate oneself of committing a crime or misdemeanor.

For information purposes, the website also displays “redline” copies of the Rules identifying the changes (other than formatting) made to the Rules approved on 11 July 2023.  

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