the defence lawyer to lower his voice and behave more seriously. In another case the lawyer at one hearing was too inebriated to remember anything from the prior hearing. The section below describes the practice at the Supreme Court of Justice and the ��������� Chişinău� Court of Appeals permitting the appointment of legal aid lawyers on the spot in hearings at which the private or legal aid defence lawyer has failed to appear. Lawyers thus appointed usually receive 10 minutes to prepare for the case and are consequently unprepared before the court. This usually results in a very poor defence. Although monitors noticed fewer instances of such snap appointments during the second monitoring period, the practice still occurs and efforts should be made to eliminate it. From the beginning of the Trial Monitoring Programme defence lawyers generally welcomed, and were cooperative with, the trial monitors������������������������������������������� . They ������������������������������������ seemed more open to public scrutiny and displayed less antipathy towards outside monitoring���������������������������������� ��������������������������������� throughout the entire monitoring period, both in Chişinău and the Southeast. During the first six months, defence �������������������� lawyers and their clients appeared visibly relieved to have monitors present and took the opportunity to complain to monitors about law enforcement, prosecutorial misconduct and procedural violations. Some inquired whether monitors could attend other trials during which they alleged that many procedural violations were occurring because high-ranking officials had stakes in the outcomes of the cases. Defence lawyers also alleged that they and their clients would be subjected to negative repercussions from judges if they individually reported abuses they had witnessed. At later stages of the Programme, however, monitors noticed instances in which defence lawyers who had initially been cooperative with the monitoring suddenly ceased interacting with monitors or became openly hostile towards them. While this change led to questions as to the reasons, no facts were observed directly that could provide answers. 2.5. Quality of Supporting Court Staff (Court Clerks and Interpreters) I. Court Clerks Court clerks are public officials responsible for recording the minutes of court hearings.54 They are required to record exactly and completely the actions and decisions of the court and all requests, motions, objections, statements and explanations by����������������������� ������������������������� persons participating in the court hearing, as well as other circumstances that will be included or annexed to the case file.55 The accuracy of the minutes depends entirely on the diligence of the court clerk. Accurate minutes are crucial �������������������������������������������������������������������� to������������������������������������������������������������������ the effective exercise of the right to appeal. C����������������� ������������������ ourt clerks play ����� an important role ����������������������������������������������������������������������������� in shaping the public’s opinion ���������������������������������������� of�������������������������������������� the functioning of the judiciary and the administration of justice. ���������������������������������������������������������������� They������������������������������������������������������������ are usually the first court officials ��������������������� with whom the ����������� public comes into contact when they appear in court. Monitors were instructed to pay attention to how diligently court clerks took hearing minutes������������������������������������������ and�������������������������������������� how they behaved towards the parties and other trial participants���. 54 ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� Moldova has no stenographic machines and no court stenographers to record court proceedings. Rather, court clerks are responsible for recording the proceedings in hand-written notes��������������������� ,�������������������� referred to as the minutes of proceedings. During the second monitoring period, one court clerk was noted typing notes on a computer. Although faster and more legible, this is still not as fast or accurate as a court stenographer. 55 ����������������������������������������������������������� See Art. 83 para (2) p. 2) of the Criminal Procedure Code. 43