Moldova's Constitutional Court declares unconstitutional provisions allowing People's Assembly of Gagauzia autonomy to participate in appointment of autonomy's chief prosecutor

The Constitutional Court (CC) has declared unconstitutional the legal provisions that allowed the involvement of the People's Assembly of Autonomous Territorial Unit (UTA) Gagauzia in the process of selecting and putting forward a candidate for the position of the autonomy’s chief prosecutor.

The ruling was approved, after the High Court has considered a notification submitted by General Prosecutor Ion Munteanu. The author of the notification argued that the contested norms allowed a local public authority - the People's Assembly of UTA Gagauzia, to decisively participate in the selection and appointment process within an institution of constitutional rank, such as the Prosecutor’s Office, which according to the Constitution, is an autonomous structure within the judicial authority.

The Constitutional Court found that the contested provisions were incompatible with the Supreme Law, affecting the constitutional architecture of the judicial authority and endangering the independence of prosecutors.

“The Constitutional Court found that the contested provisions, which allowed the People's Assembly of UTA Gagauzia to participate in the process of appointment of prosecutors, infringe the autonomy of the Prosecutor’s Office, undermine the constitutional duties of the Superior Council of Prosecutors, and exceed the competences established by the special status of UTA Gagauzia,” said CC President Domnica Manole at a briefing held after the pronouncement of the CC ruling.

The Prosecutor General’s Office informed, shortly after the Constitutional Court's decision, that as a result of this decision, the Superior Council of Prosecutors and the Prosecutor General would be able to fully and exclusively exercise the constitutional duties regarding the selection and appointment of the chief prosecutor of UTA Gagauzia’s Prosecutor’s Office.

The Court's decision is final, cannot be appealed, comes into force on the date of adoption and is published in the Official Journal (Monitorul Oficial).