Moldovan and international context. It provides questionnaires to guide monitors as they evaluate court proceedings. The role of the monitors was to observe attentively and neutrally everything that occurred during and surrounding the trial proceedings and to present correct and detailed reports on the trials that they monitored. The focus of the Trial Monitoring Programme was on procedural standards and not on the merits of individual cases. Accordingly, the role of monitors was not to assess the evidence or focus on the defendant’s guilt or innocence, but rather the observance of procedural rules, the observance of ���������������������������������������� the rights of �������������������������� defendants, witness������� es����� and victims rights��������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ;�������������������������������������������������������������������������������� and on court proceedings in general. All information collected by monitors was treated with confidentiality. One of the guiding principles for the Trial Monitoring Programme was respect for the independence of the judicial process. ���������������������������������� M��������������������������������� onitors were instructed never to intervene in or attempt to influence trial proceedings in any way whatsoever, and to be careful not to be identified with either the defence or the prosecution.�� The reaction of officials to the presence of monitors was marked. The First TMP Report described the challenges monitors faced in the beginning of the Programme in obtaining access to hearings. In the beginning of the Programme, in Chişinău courts, judges and court clerks appeared irritated by monitors, making inappropriate comments and failing to inform them of scheduled hearings. Judges often closed hearings to the public to avoid the presence of monitors. Lawyers and prosecutors seemed more open, but on occasion they requested that judges declare hearings closed for no apparent reason. With time and the publication of the First and Second TMP Report, officials became more comfortable with the Trial Monitoring Programme and more tolerant of the presence of monitors. The easier access to hearings was noted by all monitors in Chişinău during the second monitoring period. In the Southeast, access improved quickly. During the first two to three months of monitoring in the Southeast, monitors reported difficulties in access to hearings. After two to three months, however, monitors’ access improved considerably. In one case a prosecutor asked the judge to declare a hearing closed and the judge explained the purpose of the trial monitoring, cited the Memoranda of Co-operation, and rejected the motion. The Trial Monitoring Programme focused on observing court hearings, rather than following certain cases from the beginning to the end. A court hearing is any court action related to a certain case, including hearings on the merits of a case at the court of first instance, appeal hearings, considerations of a cassation complaint and postponements. A criminal case usually involves multiple court hearings. The monitors prepared detailed reports on each court hearing they attended, using a comprehensive reporting form, or questionnaire, developed for the purpose of collecting both statistical information and factual descriptions. The questionnaire has been amended throughout the implementation of the Programme, adjusted to the practicalities discovered or clarified during implementation. The questionnaire contains a series of questions which form the basis to collect and analyze statistical information for the Programme, as well as qualitative observations by the monitors on certain issues where positive, negative or extraordinary responses were noted at each monitored hearing. The Trial Monitoring Programme staff entered each questionnaire into a database specifically designed for the Programme. The purpose of the database was to allow quantitative analysis of the observations collected. The questionnaires filled in by monitors were collected and 19