Moldovan cabinet rejects draft on amendment of law on Constitutional Court

Chisinau, 30 November /MOLDPRES/ – The Cabinet of Ministers, convened at the meeting today, decided not to support the legislative initiative of a group of Socialist MPs proposing that the Constitutional Court magistrates can not hold two citizens, and can be attributed to criminal responsibility for the votes or opinions expressed in mandate exercising.

The Ministry of Justice noted that Moldova ratified the European Convention on Citizenship, adopted by Parliament's decision of 14 October 1999, without expressing reservations regarding prohibition of multiple citizenship. Therefore, no similar changes, proposed in the draft law to be implemented in the Code of Constitutional Court, can be supported.

The Government's opinion on the draft law also states that the proposal of six Socialist MPs to verify the legality of Constitutional Court's rulings is not supported, because according to the Constitution, the decisions of the Constitutional Court are final and can not be challenged. The authors of the project plead for right to prosecute the members of the Constitutional Court in case of decisions contrary to the law, passive corruption, abuse or excess of power, illicit enrichment and usurpation of state power.

The proposed editorial that the immunity of the Constitutional Court judge and the cessation of the exercise of office should be decided in certain cases by the Parliament was not accepted. The Government asserts that it thus achieved the principle of the independence of judges of the Constitutional Court, which protects the judges, first of all, from external influences in the fulfillment of the jurisdictional powers.

"The essence of the independence of constitutional judges lies in the fact that they are not the employees of the authority that appointed them in the exercise of their duties. From the time of the oath, the judges are independent, irreconcilable and subject only to the Constitution", according to the Government's negative notice.

Following the decision of the Constitutional Court on the temporary suspension of President, Igor Dodon, the Socialists announced that they would submit to Parliament a bill banning the dual citizenship of Constitutional Court (CC) judges, but also to simplify the procedure for bringing judges to CC.

(Reporter V. Bercu, editor L. Alcaza)