Frequently Asked Questions
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5YD under the heading ”Travel abroad” [section 6.a.]. “Will the Commission Secretariat request information from the Border Police? If so, is it mandatory for the subject under evaluation to present the same set of documents on border crossings?”
We note that the form of the 5YD at section 6. a. is straightforward. The subject only needs to complete the form to the best of their knowledge. The subject does not need to present confirmative documents from the Border Police.
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5YD under the heading “Donor” [section 6. a.].”When is it allowed to use the term not applicable?”
The form itself explicitly defines the term donor: “… any entity or person, other than you or a family member, [which] paid in full or any part of the travel.” Accordingly, if you or a family member fully paid for the travel, you may enter “not applicable”.
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5YD under the heading ”Travel abroad” [section 6. a.]. “How is movement by means of transport to a specific destination, crossing the border of several countries, to be reflected in this table?”
Section 6. a. asks about the travels and includes the column with the country and city. You should include there the final destination as well as any other cities/places visited if these were part of the travel.
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5YD under the heading ”Travel abroad” [section 6. a.].“In case of the above, if the route by means of transport crosses several countries – is this regarded as visits to more than one country?”
Yes. As the form explicitly states “If you visited more than one country in one trip, please list all countries.”
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5YD under the heading ”Travel abroad” [section 6. a.]. “Does making a pit stop in a hotel (for rest) – if the journey by means of transport continues afterwards to another country – count as visit to that country?”
Yes.
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5YD under the heading ”Other close persons” [section 15.]. “In the form, it is mentioned in this item “As per art. 11 para. (5) of Law No. 252/2023, the assets of all close persons shall be checked, up to 12 years back as per art. 11 para. (3) lit. a) of Law No. 252/2023.” Will the Commission or the Secretariat check the assets of all persons in item 15, regardless of whether the subject has had transactions with those persons? Or just in case questions arise about amounts of money transferred between the third party and the subject?”
It is possible that the Commission will do so.
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5YD under the heading "Other close persons” [section 15.]. “If the subjects mentioned under art. 2 of Law No. 133/2016 do not agree to provide personal data and the information necessary to be reflected in those chapters, (including information on the workplace), what should the subject of evaluation do?”
The 5YD form states under section 15: “If you are missing data on any of the close and third persons, because, for example, you are out of touch with them, please provide all data about them that you are able to obtain using reasonable diligence and provide in Section 18 an explanation on what reasonable effort you made to obtain requested information that you are unable to provide.”
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5YD under the heading "Third parties"[section 16.]. “What is the minimum value of goods in this category?”
Art. 33 para. (5) of Law No. 132/2016 on National Integrity Authority as quoted in section 16 of the 5YD refers to “goods of the person subject to control”.
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Ethics Questionnaire under Q 1. ”Have you been in your personal capacity party (claimant or defendant) or witness in any civil, misdemeanor/contravention or criminal case (including the investigation phase) at any time of the 5- or 10-year-period? How should the subject under evaluation interpret the period of "5- or 10-year-period”? For example, does the Commission regard question 1 as referring to a potential serious breach of the rules of ethics and professional conduct of prosecutors (art. 11 para. (2) lit. a) of Law No. 252/2023) (where 5 years apply) or as a potential incompatibility or conflict of interests affecting the position held (art. 11 para. (2) lit. b) of Law No. 252/2023) (where 10 years apply)?”
“Commission have amended the introduction of the Ethics Questionnaire as follows:” “The following questions relate to the last 5 or 10 years (hereinafter “5-year-period” or “10-year-period”). If the question relates to ethical violations as per art. 11 para. (2) lit. a) of Law No. 252/2023 related to rules of ethics and professional conduct, the applicable period is 5 years. If the question relates to ethical violations as per art. 11 para. (2) lit. b) of Law No. 252/2023 related to arbitrary conduct or acts, the applicable period is 10 years. If the question relates to ethical violations as per art. 11 para. (2) lit. b) of Law No. 252/2023, the applicable period is 10 years.”
The subject of evaluation should report any relevant incident within the referenced time period. The Commission will evaluate whether it falls under the 5- or 10- year period as indicated in the question.
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Ethics Questionnaire under Q 2 “As a judge, prosecutor, lawyer, notary or bailiff, have you been the subject of a disciplinary complaint to the respective professional bodies at any time of the 5- or 10-year-period? Does the term "disciplinary complaint" refer to disciplinary proceedings or does it include complaints where disciplinary proceedings have not been ordered?”
“Complaint” includes both cases where disciplinary proceedings have been initiated and where no disciplinary proceedings have been ordered. Regarding the latter, you are required to refer to them only to the extent you are aware of them.
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Ethics Questionnaire under Q 2 “As a judge, prosecutor, lawyer, notary or bailiff, have you been the subject of a disciplinary complaint to the respective professional bodies at any time of the 5- or 10- year period?”, will the Commission Secretariat request the set of documents in this regard from the Prosecutors’ Inspection? If so, is it mandatory for the subject under evaluation to present the same set of documents that are at the Prosecutors’ Inspection?
The subject does not have to present documents from the Prosecutor’s Inspection. The subject only needs to fill in the information to the best of his/her knowledge.
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Ethics Questionnaire under Q 8: “At any time of the 10-year-period, have you been the subject of a control (related to your declaration of asset and personal interests, to a conflict of interests, or to incompatibilities) by the National Integrity Authority (including the former National Commission for Integrity), which you are aware of?" Does "have you been the subject of a control by NIA or NIC” include minutes confirming the initiation of the control of declarations of assets and personal interests or does it only refer to ascertainment acts?
Yes. “Control” includes both the Control Initiation Minutes and the Ascertainment Acts.
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Ethics Questionnaire under Q 8: “At any time of the 10-year-period, have you been the subject of a control (related to your declaration of asset and personal interests, to a conflict of interests, or to incompatibilities) by the National Integrity Authority (including the former National Commission for Integrity), which you are aware of?" Will the Commission Secretariat request information and the set of documents in this regard from NIA (ex-NIC)? If yes, is it mandatory for the subject under evaluation to submit the same set of documents that are at NIA (ex-NIC)?
The subject does not have to present documents from NIA. The subject only needs to fill in the information to the best of his/her knowledge.
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5YD under the heading “Travel abroad” [section 6.a.]. “Am I supposed to submit copies of my passports only or also copies of the passports belonging to my wife and children?”
Yes, section 6.a relates to “you or any of your family members”. So, please provide a copy of all pages of all valid and expired passports of yourself, as well as your spouse and children.
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5YD under the heading “Cross-border cash-transfers” [section 6.b.]. “Section 6.b stipulates that: Amount exported abroad: This is the total amount of cash transported out of the Republic of Moldova (and not the amount above the threshold of 5,000 EUR). In case of different currencies transferred at one time, their value is combined for purposes of the threshold (please use the official exchange rate of that date; historic exchange rates are available online on the website https://www.bnm.md/ro/content/ratele-de-schimb OR https://www.curs.md/en/convertor). My question is the following: should one declare in this case any amount of money of up to 5,000 EUR transported out of the country or only the aggregate amounts in different currencies that exceed the total amount of 5,000 EUR in one trip out of the country?”
You declare under 6.b only if the aggregated amounts of all currencies exceed 5,000 EUR in one trip out of the country. So, for example, if you exported in one trip 2,000 EUR, 2,500 USD, and 500 MDL, you do not need to declare anything, as the total is below the equivalent of 5,000 EUR. However, if you exported in one trip 2,000 EUR, 2,500 USD, and 20,000 MDL, you do need to declare all three amounts, as their total combined is above the equivalent of 5,000 EUR.
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5YD under the heading “Other close persons” [section 15]. “If grandparents died in the last 12 years, are they to be declared under section 15 “Other close persons”?”
Yes, since they were alive at some part of the declaration period, you need to declare them.
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5YD under the heading “Other close persons” [section 15]. „If my brother-in-law (my wife’s brother) got married on 14 February 2024, should I declare his current wife in this declaration (as a person related by affinity/sister-in-law) under section 15?”
As per the instructions, the “declaration asks for information as far back as 12 calendar years in some instances (2012 – 2023)”. Therefore, only close persons who had this status within the stated 12 calendar years period (2012-2023) are relevant. You do not need to declare a person who became a close person only in February 2024.
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5YD. „Also, am I supposed to declare both my grandchildren and my nephews/nieces, i.e. the children of my sister?”
Law No. 133/2016 on the declaration of assets and personal interests, which defines in art. 2 the concept of close person, including the category of NEPOT/NEPOATĂ (in English version are two categories – nephew/niece OR grandchildren) does not distinguish which nepot/nepoată – of grandparents or of brother/sister.
Thus, in this category – nepot/nepoată – please include both types: nephew/niece and grandchildren.
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5YD. „As regards persons related by blood to the subject of the evaluation (uncle/aunt) – should I declare the spouse of my uncle/aunt?”
Law No. 133/2016, establishes in the category close person – the person related by blood or adoption to the subject of declaration, referring to uncle/aunt. The other spouse of the uncle/aunt is not related by blood or adoption.
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5YD. “Should I indicate only the current workplaces of my relatives or, as the case may be, should I indicate their last workplace if they don’t work anywhere now?”
If relatives are unemployed, please state that they are currently unemployed and indicate the last place where they worked. If they never worked, please indicate “unemployed”.
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5YD under the heading “Assets not included in annual declations under Law No. 133/2016” [section 8]. „In completing the DECLARATION based on Article 12 paragraph (3) of Law No. 252/2023 I. "of assets and personal interests" II. "regarding the list of close persons from the judiciary, prosecution, and public service", questions arose regarding the content of Section 8 thereof. In this regard, I respectfully request the Prosecutor Vetting Commission to provide a response regarding whether, in Section 8 of the Declaration, which refers to "Assets not included in the annual declarations according to Law no. 133/2016", the following should be declared: The bank accounts that were closed during the period 2019-2023 (which no longer exist) and were not declared in the annual declarations according to Law No. 133/2016, considering the non-obligation to declare them given that the total savings from all accounts did not exceed the threshold value established by art. 4 para. (1) lit. d) of Law No. 133/2016?”
As per the instructions to Section 8 of the 5-year-declaration, the amount and currency of the account is irrelevant and does not need to be declared (“Under Section V lit. A, if you have to declare an additional bank account not yet declared, you do not have to fill in the field ‘amount and currency’”). Therefore, we kindly ask you to declare all bank accounts, even if the total of savings does not exceed the threshold value established by Art. 4 para. (1) lit. d) of Law No. 133/2016. Please note, as per instructions in the 5-year-declarations, this is an exception for bank accounts only. For all other assets, they need to be declared only if their value is above the respective threshold set by Art. 4 para. (1) of Law 133/2016.