Ministry of Justice: CSJ decisions on canceling Pre-vetting Commission's documents violated legal terms

Chisinau, 2 Aug. /MOLDPRES/- The Ministry of Justice came this evening with a reaction on the 21 administrative litigation cases initiated by the candidates for CSP and CSM. Reactions to the issue were given by several institutions, as well as politicians.

According to a press release issued by the Ministry of Justice, the decisions on the 21 appeals submitted by the people who did not pass the extraordinary evaluation, through which the documents of the pre-vetting Commission were annulled, were issued as a package on the same day, at short time intervals and the legal terms were violated (within 10 days at the most from the submission of the appeal), some decisions being issued even several months apart.

"The decisions were taken after Parliament passed in final reading the Law on external assessment of judges and prosecutors, but also before the General Assembly of Prosecutors, planned for August 23, 2023. We admit that, in cases where it is found that the pre-vetting Commission violated the evaluation procedure provided by the Law on pre-vetting (no. 26/2022), the appeals should be admitted and new re-evaluations should be ordered regarding the candidates, in order to remove any deficiencies. We also note with concern that the decisions (with few exceptions) include arguments drawn to indigo, a fact that arouses confusion. It is noted that the special panel, instead of limiting itself to checking the legality of the pre-vetting Commission's decisions, also gave extensive assessments on the appropriateness of the evaluation procedure. In this way, the disagreement with the pre-vetting mechanism that the legislator instituted to check the integrity of candidates for judges and prosecutors for the positions of members of the CSM and CSP was expressed, the press release says.

In the press release, the ministry also listed some worrying aspects such as avoiding the application of several provisions of Law no. 26/2022, as well as of Law no. 180/2023 (for the interpretation of some provisions of Law no. 26/2022), "which would mean ignoring the legislative power and the mission of the elaborated integrity verification mechanism".

"Apparently, ignoring the special legal provisions regarding the limits of the CSJ's judicial control over the Commission's decisions. However, art. 14 (8) of the Law on pre-vetting contains clear and precise provisions of the reasons for admitting the appeals of candidates who did not pass the evaluation, namely the cumulative presence of two circumstances. It is about the admission of serious procedural errors, which affect the fairness of the evaluation procedure and the existence of circumstances that could lead to the promotion of the evaluation by the candidate. The CSJ decisions do not seem to have arguments regarding these two cases, but other arguments without concrete circumstances that could have led to the promotion of the evaluation, ordering the annulment, although the legal powers of the special trial panel refer only to admitting appeals and ordering reassessment. These aspects set a dangerous precedent in the fight against corruption and call into question any intention to check integrity. Ignoring the law related to the Commission's statute and the application of the special law, in favor of the Administrative Code. A re-interpretation of Law no. 26/2022 is observed, invoking that this Commission is a public authority within the meaning of the Administrative Code, without taking into account the amendments introduced by the legislator through Law no. 180/2023. Substitution of the discretionary right of the pre-vetting Commission, the evaluation criteria and rules stipulated in the Law on pre-vetting. The non-uniform interpretation of the law, ignoring the judicial precedent and the standards of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) regarding unitary jurisprudence", it also says.

Minister of Justice Veronica Mihailov-Moraru also came with a clarification on the matter. She said she always respected the decisions of the courts and the intimate conviction of the judges. "However, emerging from the above-mentioned aspects, there are reasonable suspicions that in the justice system there are still signals of non-acceptance of the extraordinary evaluation mechanism, although this is a commitment of the country, assumed. Practice of uneven application and ambiguous interpretation of the law continues. The efforts made in the justice reform segment continue. Professional, integrity and incorruptible judges and prosecutors must remain in the system. Thus, the recent legislative initiatives adopted by the Parliament, which will allow the evaluation of the ethical and financial integrity of the magistrates of the Supreme Court of Justice, but also of the judges and prosecutors in key positions in the field of justice, are an essential step in this regard and their implementation must be accelerated", the minister said.

On August 1, 2023, the CSJ canceled 21 decisions not to promote candidates to positions in the Superior Council of Magistracy (CSM) and the Superior Council of Prosecutors (CSP), as follows: Angela Popil, Vladislav Holban, Alexei Panis, Anatolie Gîrbu, Veronica Cupcea, Alexandru Rotari, Stanislav Sorbalo, Valentin Caisin, Ion Chirtoacă, Vitalie Codreanu, Vitalie Stratan, Angela Bostan, Aureliu Postică, Victor Sandu, Nicolae Șova, Aliona Miron, Cristina Gladcov, Tatiana Chiriac, Ecaterina Buzu, Mihail Bușuleac and Sergiu Osoianu, and ordered their re-evaluation by the Pre-Vetting Commission. After the CSJ decisions, politicians and the Pre-Vetting Commission also reacted.